Drugs in the air in Italy's cities

People in eight Italian cities unknowingly snort cocaine and other drugs every time they go outside, a study reveals. But the low levels at which the drugs occur mean no one is getting high walking around the block.

Air in eight Italian cities is riddled with drugs, according to a recent study conducted by the Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research at the National Research Council in Rome. The study analyzed the air for the presence of two legal drugs: caffeine and nicotine, and two illegal drugs: cocaine and cannabinoids.

Commissioned by Italy's anti-drugs department, contents of the air from six cities were analyzed every day for a year, while two cities had their air studied on seven random days per month. The researchers tested for each of the substances using samples taken from the cities' air quality monitoring stations.

A hazy combination of smoke and fog blurs the view of Bologna from the mountains above the northern Italian city, which scored high in the environmental survey. The smog is made up of what the scientists call particulate matter or fine particles suspended in the air.

While particulate matter - or PM - can be produced by natural sources like volcanoes and dust storms, the PM found in cities is usually caused by people, such as factories and cars.

What's with PM?

"When they started measuring PMs, they understood that these concentrations needed to be kept under control," Cristina Volta of the Bologna regional environmental protection agency (ARPA) told DW. "Studies like this are important to discover and start tackling an issue rather than ignoring it."

Scientists first discovered psychotropic substances - drugs like caffeine, nicotine, cocaine and cannabinoids - in water, and are now measuring it in the air. There is worry in towns like Bologna: located in the giant basin of the Po Valley, where there's lots of traffic, it's rarely windy, and the air tends to stagnate.

"Tests that showed the presence of these substances in the water had already made us prick up our ears," said Volta. "But finding them in ambient air together with fine particles is a step forward in our knowledge about the presence of these substances."

In Europe, there's only been one similar study which was conducted in three Spanish cities. They fared marginally better than the Italian ones. Another study from Latin America revealed much higher levels of psychotropic substances in the air. Volta said she would like to see more extensive PM research worldwide.

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Drugs in the air in Italy's cities