Fifty years on from Seveso, environmental chemistry sets the course at the Dioxin 2026 conference in Riva del Garda

Half a century on from the 1976 Seveso industrial disaster, the scientific legacy of that tragedy continues to guide global research into persistent contaminants. In the prestigious journal “The Analytical Scientist”, the article “The Long Shadow of Seveso Falls on Riva del Garda” shines a spotlight on the past and future challenges facing analytical chemistry.

Ahead of the Dioxin 2026 international conference in Riva del Garda, an interview with Werner Tirler — Director of Eco Research and Chair of the event — looks back at how that dramatic event revolutionised regulations and spurred science to develop increasingly precise monitoring methods. Today, research is not limited to tracking dioxins, but tackles the complexity of new emerging pollutants, such as PFAS, whilst balancing analytical rigour, economic sustainability and the protection of public health.

This scenario reinforces the mission of Eco Research and the Dioxin 2026 scientific community: to combine scientific rigour with global cooperation to transform the lessons of the past into concrete prevention tools, protecting ecosystems and public health through increasingly predictive and sustainable environmental chemistry.

👉 Read the full article in “The Analytical Scientist”:

The Long Shadow of Seveso Falls on Riva del Garda