Geotechnical characterization of Mount Etna ash for its reuse preserving human health

In the last decades Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy) has partially modified its activity from effusive to eruptive. From the eruption of 1991-1993 to those of 2015 an exponential increasing of its activity has been observed. Large amounts of ash have repeatedly covered the city of Catania. This caused problems on the road and air traffic, agriculture and human health, above all due to the significant toxicity of this material. The storage of Mount Etna ash has become a great problem. The recent trend is not consider the volcanic ash as a waste, but as a resource. Volcanic ash could be particularly used in Geotechnical Engineering, avoiding environmental and human health damage. The present paper deals with human health damage and geotechnical characterization of Mount Etna ash. The results give interesting information for a rational reuse of this ash in Geotechnical Engineering preserving the human health.