DI GUARDO ANTONIO

Contact data
Full Professor
Department of Science and High Technology
University of Insubria
Via Valleggio 11 22100 COMO CO
Phone +39-031-2386480

E-mail: antonio.diguardo@uninsubria.it

Biography
Antonio Di Guardo received his degree in Agricultural Science in 1989, and a PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides in 1994, both from the University of Milan. He was a Post-Doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, Canada (1994-1996) developing models to predict the fate of chemicals in the environment. He was Assistant Professor of Ecology at the University of Insubria (1996-2005) in Varese, Associate Professor of Ecology and Ecotoxicology at the University of Insubria in Como. As of 2020 he is full professor of Ecology and Ecotoxicology at the University of Insubria in Como.

His main object of research is the development of environmental fate models capable to describe and predict the multimedia pathways of organic chemicals in several environmental scenarios, such as evaluative, regional and site specific ones.
He was member of several national and international working groups and committees dealing with modeling issues: for instance the European Science Foundation Chemical Exposure Prediction Working Group, or the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) International Task Force on the Application of Fate Models to Regulatory Decision Making. In 2001 he was External Expert for the European Union CSTEE (Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment), assisting the revision of some modeling issues in the Technical Guidance Document (TGD) on Risk Assessment of New Chemicals. He is currently external consultant for APAT (Italian environmental protection agency) for environmental fate modelling issues.

Qualifications and awards
(1989) Degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Milan.
(1994) PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides from the University of Milan. Title of the Thesis: “Formulation, application and experimental validation of a model for predicting the fate of pesticides applied to soil and the contamination of surface waters”.
(2003) External examiner at the University of Lancaster (UK) for a PhD committee.
(2004) External examiner at the University of Siena for a PhD committee.
(2007) External examiner at the University of Siena for a PhD committee.

Research interests
The scientific activity of Antonio Di Guardo, in the field of ecological disciplines, is placed in the field of ecotoxicology. More specifically, attention is paid to the study of the ecosystem exposure of organisms to chemicals, the bio-geochemical cycle of xenobiotic substances, their properties and their behavior in the environment, in particular through:

Development, calibration and experimental verification of multimedia models at various spatial and temporal scales.
They are models for the study of the transport of contaminants in soil, water, regional models, bioaccumulation models in the food network, etc., which allow to evaluate the distribution and concentrations of chemical products released into the environment and, ultimately, of evaluate the exposure of organisms to a specific chemical compound. In particular, the research activity was centered on the development of dynamic models, i.e. with temporal and spatial variability of environmental and ecosystemic characteristics capable of influencing the environmental behavior of contaminants: variability of organic carbon concentrations present in the aquatic environment and terrestrial (POC and DOC), of the environmental scenario in general, also including the physical parameters. The goal is to make existing models more ecologically realistic and thus obtain more accurate and comprehensive estimates of the variability of ecosystems in assessing the ecological risk to contaminants. Integrated models were then developed to evaluate the accumulation of contaminants in plant biomass (terrestrial and freshwater) (e.g. the SoilPlusVeg model), animal (e.g. the SingleFish model which allows to calculate the accumulation in the different stages life of an aquatic organism) and basin-scale models to assess the environmental fate of pesticides used on orchards. With these models, it is possible to predict the exposure of aquatic ecosystems that receive peaks of contamination as a result of the washout of pesticides due to rain and consequent surface flow, such as in mountain areas.

Measurement of bioaccumulation of contaminants in plant biomass and in aquatic and terrestrial food chains.
This was achieved by coupling the modeling activity to environmental analyzes (monitoring of concentrations in various phases) carried out in the laboratory directed by Prof. Di Guardo or in collaboration with other groups. The activity allowed to characterize the accumulation capacities of numerous tree species by producing characteristic equations, to determine the accumulation capacity of atmospheric particulate and associated contaminants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, on the leaves and ultimately to characterize the effect plant biomass filter, i.e. the ability of the leaves to transfer organic contaminants from the air to the leaves and then to the soil. This is essential to be able to evaluate the accumulation in the terrestrial food chain. Similarly, models for aquatic food chains have been developed.

Evaluation of the environmental fate, bioavailability and bioremediation of persistent organic compounds (POPs).
The study of the environmental fate of POPs is fundamental to understand their bioavailability and bioaccessibility, in the assessment of ecological risk and bioremediation. This was done thanks to collaborative work (with environmental microbiologists and geostatistics specialists) on a contaminated site of national interest in Brescia, where about 100 Ha of agricultural land was contaminated in the past, thanks to industrial activities, by high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and furans (PCDD / Fs) as well as arsenic and mercury. This environmental load represents a high risk for ecosystems as well as, obviously, food chains of human interest. In this project the aspects related to the environmental fate of these contaminants have been studied, with the development of models and experimental approaches aimed at their remediation. In particular, rhizoremediation experiments were set up in greenhouse conditions to allow the degradation of organic substances (PCB and PCDD / Fs) and the phytoextraction of metals (Hg) and metalloids (As). The modeling experience has allowed us to develop approaches capable of increasing the bioavailability of organic contaminants, favoring their microbial degradation.

Teaching experience and appointments
(2003- present) Prof. Di Guardo taught courses of “Basic and Applied Ecology”, “Ecotoxicology” and Environmental Fate modelling of contaminants to the students of the Degree in Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Sciences of the University of Insubria in Como).

(1996 – 2005) Prof. Di Guardo taught courses of “Ecotoxicology” and “Environmental Modelling” to the students of the Degree in Biological Sciences (Faculty of Sciences of the University of Insubria in Varese).

Prof. Di Guardo gave seminars at numerous courses of Universities in Italy and abroad (University of Milan, University of Siena, University of Padova, University of Jyväskilä (Finland), University of Toronto (Canada), University of Guelph (Canada)).