Ministry of Culture launches project to protect heritage from environmental pollution

The Ministry of Culture and the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA) announce a project aimed at protecting Italy’s cultural heritage from the risks of environmental pollution, thanks to the valuable synergy between the scientific and art worlds.

The Ministry of Culture has therefore established a joint technical table called “Culture, Environment and Health,” chaired by Director General of Education, Research and Cultural Institutes Mario Turetta, and coordinated by Sima President Alessandro Miani, in order to improve the state of conservation of cultural heritage, research more advanced solutions and technologies to prevent the harmful consequences ofexposure to environmental pollutants, and protect the health of citizens who visit museums, monuments or other cultural places and those who work in such contexts.

"This agreement marks the beginning of an important form of collaboration between the scientific and art worlds for the protection of Italy’s cultural heritage, thanks also to the use of rigorous methodologies and cutting-edge technologies. With this protocol, two worlds that only seemingly seem to be separated reduce their distances," said Minister Franceschini.

“Attention to the air quality of museums and places of art guarantees not only public health, but also the preservation and protection of cultural heritage put at risk by dust, pollen, fungi, bacteria, viruses inside or from outside,” explained Alessandro Miani. “Thanks to the application of protocols based on monitoring methodologies and technologies validated by the scientific community, it is possible to make Italian cultural sites safer and limit the spread of pollutants that can damage our artistic heritage.”

Another central theme will be the protection of monuments and facades from atmospheric pollution, which is responsible for the blackening of the exterior surfaces of cultural property, and a phenomenon aggravated by acid rain as well as moisture and improper waterproofing of surfaces, which remain exposed to the formation of moss, mold, and mineral inflorescence.

As part of the Ministry of Culture/Sima project, knowledge-based protocols will also be defined that will lead Italy to implement a pilot course that can become a reference for all other nations.

“The agreement signed between the Ministry of Culture and the Society of Environmental Medicine intends to start a new phase of multidisciplinary interventions, carried out in a synergistic form and on an absolutely scientific basis, in order to make our country’s cultural heritage more and more usable,” said scientific advisor and member of the technical table Elena Campione of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. “In this perspective, in fact, environmental medicine can be of great help by ensuring, with innovative technologies, the healthiness of built environments, through a drastic reduction of harmful products or biological contaminants while contributing to the protection of museum heritage.”

Ministry of Culture launches project to protect heritage from environmental pollution

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