10-year time course of Hg and organic compounds in Augusta Bay: Bioavailability and biological effects in marine organisms.

ABSTRACT: In the last century, many Mediterranean coastal areas have been subjected to anthropogenic disturbances from industrial activities, uncontrolled landfills, shipyards, and high maritime traffic. The Augusta Bay (eastern Sicily, Italy) represents an example of a strongly impacted coastal environment with an elevated level of sediments contamination due to the presence of one of the largest European petrochemical plants, combined with an extensive commercial and military harbor. The most significant contaminants were represented by mercury (Hg) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), derived from a former chlor-alkali plant, and other organic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs). Since the 1970s, Augusta Bay has become internationally recognized as a cont

SUBMITTER: Benedetti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9532743 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature