(Rome) The spectacular transformation on Sunday of a section of the Grand Canal in Venice, which temporarily turned fluorescent green, was due to the presence of fluorescein, a non-toxic substance generally used for tests on sewage networks, local authorities announced on Monday.
The analyzes revealed “the presence of fluorescein in the samples taken”, indicated in a press release the Regional Agency for Prevention and Environmental Protection of Veneto (Arpav).
The results “did not demonstrate the presence of toxic elements in the samples analyzed”, she added, without however specifying the origin of the presence of this substance in the Grand Canal.
Fluorescein is often used to trace the path of poorly known networks or to identify inversions between wastewater and rainwater networks.
The color change had been reported by residents, raising many questions. According to the local daily La Nuova Veneziathe police would have thus sought to know if activists of climate change could be at the origin of the phenomenon.
It is not the first time that the Grand Canal has turned green. In 1968, Argentinian artist Nicolas Garcia Uriburu dyed his waters green using a fluorescent dye during the 34e Venice Biennale, as part of an action to raise awareness of ecology.