diff --git a/MC/DetectorConfig.C b/MC/DetectorConfig.C
index f1c6aa68..13b51951 100644
--- a/MC/DetectorConfig.C
+++ b/MC/DetectorConfig.C
@@ -363,9 +363,68 @@ DetectorInit(Int_t tag)
     {
       //=================== ITS parameters ============================
       
-      AliITS *ITS  = new AliITSv11("ITS","ITS v11");
+      AliITSv11 *ITS  = new AliITSv11("ITS","ITS v11");
       if( tag == kDetectorPhosOnly)
 	ITS->DisableStepManager();
+
+      // adjust material if requested
+      if(gSystem->Getenv("CONFIG_ITS_MATERIAL")){
+        printf("*** ITS requiring adjusment of SPD and SDD denisities\n");
+        TString str_conf = gSystem->Getenv("CONFIG_ITS_MATERIAL");
+        char currentpar[100];
+        int upto = str_conf.First(",");
+        while(upto > - 1 && upto < 100){ // more than one param
+          snprintf(currentpar, upto+1, "%s", str_conf.Data());
+          TString tstr(currentpar);
+          str_conf.Remove(0, upto+1);
+          upto = str_conf.First(",");
+
+          if(tstr.Contains("kSPDSiChip")){
+            float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+            printf("kSPDSiChip = %f\n", val);
+            ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDSiChip, val);// SPD Silicon chip
+          } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDSiSens")){
+            float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+            printf("kSPDSiSens = %f\n", val);
+            ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDSiSens, val);// SPD Silicon sensor
+          } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDAlBus")){
+            float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+            printf("kSPDAlBus = %f\n", val);
+            ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDAlBus, val);// SPD Aluminum Bus
+          } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDCoolPipes")){
+            float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+            printf("kSPDCoolPipes = %f\n", val);
+            ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDCoolPipes, val);// SPD Phynox
+          } else if(tstr.Contains("kSDDSiAll")){
+            float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+            printf("kSDDSiAll = %f\n", val);
+            ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSDDSiAll, val);// SDD Silicon chip+sensor
+          }
+        }
+        snprintf(currentpar, 100, "%s", str_conf.Data());
+        TString tstr(currentpar);
+        if(tstr.Contains("kSPDSiChip")){
+          float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+          printf("kSPDSiChip = %f\n", val);
+          ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDSiChip, val);// SPD Silicon chip
+        } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDSiSens")){
+          float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+          printf("kSPDSiSens = %f\n", val);
+          ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDSiSens, val);// SPD Silicon sensor
+        } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDAlBus")){
+          float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+          printf("kSPDAlBus = %f\n", val);
+          ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDAlBus, val);// SPD Aluminum Bus
+        } else if(tstr.Contains("kSPDCoolPipes")){
+          float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+          printf("kSPDCoolPipes = %f\n", val);
+          ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSPDCoolPipes, val);// SPD Phynox
+        } else if(tstr.Contains("kSDDSiAll")){
+          float val = atof(&tstr[tstr.First("=") + 1]);
+          printf("kSDDSiAll = %f\n", val);
+          ITS->SetDensityFactor(AliITSv11::kSDDSiAll, val);// SDD Silicon chip+sensor
+        }
+      }
     }
 
   if (iTPC)
diff --git a/MC/dpgsim.sh b/MC/dpgsim.sh
index 2ca382ce..8a0d1fc3 100755
--- a/MC/dpgsim.sh
+++ b/MC/dpgsim.sh
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ function COMMAND_HELP(){
     echo "--keepTrackRefsFraction <percentage>      Percentage of subjobs that keeps the TrackRefs file"
     echo "--signalFilteringFraction <percentage>    Percentage of subjobs that use signal filtering (for embedding only)"
     echo "--material <densityFactor>                Modify material budget by a density factor"
+    echo "--its-material <densityFactor>            Modify its-only material budget following this syntaxt \"kSPDSiChip=1.2,kSPDSiSens=1.2,kSPDAlBus=1.2,kSPDCoolPipes=1.2,kSDDSiAll=1.12\""
     echo "--purifyKineOff                           Switch off the PurifyKine step in simulation" 
     echo "--fluka                                   Use FLUKA instead of GEANT3" 
     echo "--geant4                                  Use GEANT4 instead of GEANT3"
@@ -244,6 +245,7 @@ CONFIG_FASTB=""
 CONFIG_VDT="on"
 CONFIG_CLEANUP="on"
 CONFIG_MATERIAL=""
+CONFIG_ITS_MATERIAL=""
 CONFIG_KEEPTRACKREFSFRACTION="0"
 CONFIG_REMOVETRACKREFS="off"
 CONFIG_SIGNALFILTERINGFRACTION="100"
@@ -471,6 +473,10 @@ while [ ! -z "$1" ]; do
         CONFIG_MATERIAL="$1"
 	export CONFIG_MATERIAL
         shift
+    elif [ "$option" = "--its-material" ]; then
+        CONFIG_ITS_MATERIAL="$1"
+        export CONFIG_ITS_MATERIAL
+        shift
     elif [ "$option" = "--geant4" ]; then
         CONFIG_GEANT4="on"
 	export CONFIG_GEANT4