scholarly journals Trace-metal distribution and ecological risk assessment in sediments of a sheltered coastal area (Gulf of Gaeta, central-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) in relation to hydrodynamic conditions

Author(s):  
SIMONE BONAMANO ◽  
DANIELE PIAZZOLLA ◽  
SERGIO SCANU ◽  
VIVIANA PIERMATTEI ◽  
MARCO MARCELLI

This study investigates the relationship between sediment contamination and hydrodynamic conditions in the Gaeta Gulf (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), an anthropogenically impacted and sheltered coastal area. The pollution levels, potential toxicity, and ecological risk of trace metals were analysed in 16 sediment sampling sites using Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), the Adverse Effect Index (AEI), and the Mean ERM Quotient (m-ERM-Q). The bottom shear stress of the study area, evaluated using an annual simulation of a 3D numerical model, was used to calculate a new Sediment Mobilisation Index (SMI) that detects the coastal zones where a low probability of sediment resuspension occurs. As, Ni, and Cu concentrations exceeded the Threshold Effects Level (TEL) guideline value and  AEI limit in several sampling sites, indicating their ability to produce adverse effects on biota. Moreover m-ERM-Q showed the highest values of potential ecological risk in most of the sampling sites located in the inner part of the Gulf of Gaeta. In this area, the highest SMI values were also identified, demonstrating that there is a tight relationship between the two indexes (R2 = 0.8214). The application of SMI in sheltered areas will help achieve high performance of monitoring and hazard assessment tools through obtaining predictable responses on hotspot identification.

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cem Tokatli

Abstract Gala Lake National Park that has an international importance is one of the most important wetland ecosystems for Turkey. As same as many aquatic habitats, Gala Lake is under a significant anthropogenic pressure originated from agricultural activities conducted around the lake and from industrial discharges by means of Ergene River. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sediment quality of Gala Lake and Irrigation Canal by investigating some toxic element accumulations (As, B, Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu) from a statistical perspective. Pearson Correlation Index (PCI) and Factor Analysis (FA) were applied to detected data in order to determine the associated contaminants and effective factors on the system. Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI) and Biological Risk Index based sediment quality guidelines (mERM-Q) applied to detected data in order to assess the ecological and biological risks of heavy metals in the ecosystem. Also Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was used to make visual explanations by presenting distribution maps of investigated elements. According to the results of PCI, significant positive correlations were recorded among the investigated toxic elements at 0.01 significance level. According to the results of FA, two factors, which were named as “Agricultural Factor” and “Industrial Factor”, explained 86.6% of the total variance. According to the results of Potential Ecological Risk Index, cadmium was found to be the highest risk factor and according to results of Biological Risk Index, nickel and chromium were found to be the highest risk factors for Gala Lake and Irrigation Canal. As a result of the present study, it was also determined that heavy metal contents in sediments of Gala Lake National Park reached to critical levels and the system is intensively under effect of agricultural and industrial originated pollution.


Author(s):  
Marjan Esmaeilzadeh ◽  
Elham Mahmoudpuor ◽  
Somayeh Haghighat Ziabari ◽  
Sara Esmaeilzadeh ◽  
Hamideh Aliani ◽  
...  

Abstract In this paper, concentrations of some heavy metals in surficial sediments of the International Anzali Wetland were measured, this wetland is located in northern part of Iran. Sediment pollution levels were examined and analyzed using reliable pollution indices including Pollution Load Index (PLI), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) and Enrichment Factor (CF), and finally it was revealed that heavy metal pollution ranged from low to moderated loads in the wetland. According to Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) and Ecological Risk Index (ERI), it was concluded that As and Ni may have significant toxic impacts on aquatic organisms and also according to Effect Range Median (ERM), the toxicity probability of sediments in the Anzali wetland was estimated at 21%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 210232-0
Author(s):  
Julio Marín ◽  
Marinela Colina ◽  
Hilda Ledo ◽  
P.H.E. Gardiner

The evaluation of potential ecological risk of aquatic sediments associated with the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTE) determines its degree of danger on native biota. In this work, the potential ecological risk of V, Ti, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sn, Hg and Pb in superficial sediments is explained in three different areas of Lake Maracaibo: El Tablazo Bay, Strait of Maracaibo and the lake itself, through a multi-guideline approach (elemental enrichment (enrichment factor, contamination degree, pollutant load index and geo-accumulation index), sediment quality guidelines and risk assessment code). The PTE levels ranged from < 0.025 to 176.722 mg·kg−1 DW, with an overall proportion of V > Ti > Pb > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > As > Cd > Se > Hg > Sn. The PTE concurrent effect on biota was El Tablazo Bay > lake > Strait of Maracaibo. The superficial sediments of Lake Maracaibo constitute a medium with a high potential ecological risk on estuarine biota. This is mainly due to the levels of As in El Tablazo Bay, Cd in the Strait of Maracaibo and Pb in the lake area. This represents a latent toxicity hazard for native biological communities and other associated organisms.


Author(s):  
G Mastrantonio ◽  
I Petenko ◽  
A Viola ◽  
S Argentini ◽  
L Coniglio ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Piazzolla ◽  
Giancarlo Della Ventura ◽  
Andrea Terribili ◽  
Alessandra Conte ◽  
Sergio Scanu ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The increase in urbanization requires intense energy consumption and causes an increase in emissions from transportation and industrial sources. As a result, a variety of pollutants are released into the atmosphere with negative effects on the health of organisms and ecosystems as well as on human health. In this perspective, coastal areas are considered &quot;hot&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;spot&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s&quot; of environmental contamination since they often host multiple human activities. This issue is particularly dramatic close to important maritime hubs, as a matter of fact overall 25% of the world energy consumption (a major source of pollution) is employed for transport, and over 80% of world trade is carried by sea (Gobbi et al. 2020). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;During 2019-2020 we carried out a continuous monitoring of particulate matter in a fixed station to understand the sources of air pollution in the northern Latium coastal area. This area has been selected for the presence of industrial activities located in a few kilometers of coast (Piazzolla et al. 2020). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The amount and typology of solid particles present in the environment have been assessed by implementing a reliable cost-effective device (Gozzi et al. 2015, 2017) which integrates an optical particle counter and a filtering set-up able to collect particulate matter with dimension &gt; 400 nm (Della Ventura et al. 2017). Filters were periodically removed from the device and recovered microparticles were subjected to microscopic (optical and electron), spectroscopic (IR, Raman), and microchemical (SEM-EDS) characterization. Results were related to the wind speed and direction measured by&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;the &lt;/span&gt;Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System&lt;span&gt; (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Bonamano et al. 2015), allowing an evaluation of the contribution of anthropic (industrial and maritime) activities to the pollution in this area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bonamano S., Piermattei V., Madonia A., Mendoza F., Pierattini A., Martellucci R., ... &lt;span&gt;&amp; Marcelli M. (2016). The Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System (C-CEMS): a new tool to analyze the conflicts between coastal pressures and sensitivity areas. Ocean Science, 12(1).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; DOI 10.5194/os-12-87-2016&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Della Ventura G., Gozzi F., Marcelli A. (2017) The MIAMI project: design and testing of an IoT lowcost device for mobile monitoring of PM and gaseous pollutants. Superstripe Press, Science Series, 12, 41-44, ISBN 9788866830764&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gobbi G.P., Di Liberto L., Barnaba F. (2020). &lt;span&gt;Impact of port emissions on Eu-regulated and non-regulated air quality indicators: the case of Civitavecchia (Italy). Science of the Total environment, 719. DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134984 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Gozzi, F., Della Ventura, G., Marcelli, A. (2015) Mobile monitoring of particulate matter: State of art and perspectives. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 7, 228-234. DOI 10.1016/j.apr.2015.09.007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Gozzi F., Della Ventura G., Marcelli A., Lucci F. (2017) Current status of particulate matter pollution in Europe and future perspectives: a review. Journal of Materials and Environmental Science, 8, 1901-1909. ISSN 2028-2508&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Piazzolla D., Cafaro V., de Lucia G. A., Mancini E., Scanu S., Bonamano S., ... &amp; Marcelli M. (2020). Microlitter pollution in coastal sediments of the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy: microplastics and fly-ash occurrence and distribution. &lt;/span&gt;Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 106819. DOI 10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106819&lt;/p&gt;


2003 ◽  
pp. 125-138
Author(s):  
A.M. Cicero ◽  
M.G. Finoia ◽  
M. Gabellini ◽  
E. Pietrantonio ◽  
G. Romanelli ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 396 ◽  
pp. 109-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Barbosa Monteiro ◽  
Phelype Haron Oleinik ◽  
Bruno Vasconcellos Lopes ◽  
Thalita Fagundes Leal ◽  
Osmar Olinto Möller Junior ◽  
...  

A modelling system was utilised to simulate the movement and behaviour of oil slicks for two types of hydrocarbons, a diesel and another residual, considering hydrodynamic variations. Susceptible areas to oil touching were found in adjacent regions of two vessel manoeuvring zones, in two types of zones, one in a marine coastal and another in an estuarine environment. The evaporation rates were calculated for an estimate of the mass losses. For the maritime zone, the oil particles reached the vicinity of the beaches in approximately 4 to 8 hours after the beginning of the spill simulations, while for the estuary in approximately 1 hour. For the scenarios with diesel oil, mass losses oscillated between 13 to 16% in the estuarine region, and between 23 and 29% in the marine coastal zones. The evaporation rates for scenarios with residual oil, between 2 and 5%, were considerably lower than for diesel (15 and 22%), especially for spills simulated in the estuarine region, where the oil particles reached the lagoon banks after 1 hour. Mass losses by evaporation were more intense in marine coastal areas than for oil spills simulated in estuarine regions, possibly due to the more intense hydrodynamic conditions and the longer time that the oil needs to reach the coast. The fluctuations of observed environmental conditions justify the need for a robust number of simulations for reducing the uncertainties related to the oceanographic and meteorological variability that affect oil spill movement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Li ◽  
Xinran Liu ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
Xiaofei Li ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
...  

Pollution by PAHs in the estuarine–coastal area of the ECS should be paid attention.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Y. Lim ◽  
N. A. Zakaria ◽  
K. Y. Foo

Abstract The present work is aimed at assessing the aftermath effects of the 2014 flood tragedy on the distribution, pollution status and ecological risks of the heavy metals deposited in the surface river sediment. A series of environmental pollution indexes, specifically the enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), modified degree of contamination (mCd), pollution load index (PLI), potential ecological risk index (PERI) and sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) have been adopted. Results revealed that the freshly deposited sediments collected soon after the flood event were dominated by Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Zn, Cr and Cd, with the average concentrations of 38.74, 16,892, 17.71, 4.65, 29.22, 42.36 and 0.29 mg/kg, respectively. According to the heavy metal pollution indexes, Pahang River sediments were moderately to severely contaminated with Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cr, while Cd with the highest risk of 91.09 was the predominant element that illustrated an aesthetic ecological risk to the water body after the tragic flood event. The findings highlighted a critical deterioration of the heavy metals content, driven by the catastrophic flood event, which has drastically altered their geochemical cycles, sedimentary pollution status and biochemical balance of the river's environment.


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