| |
|
Harbour and coastal sediment chemistry and toxicity:
a preliminary assessment of dredging activities
B. Pinto1,
D. Pellegrini2, M. Gabellini2
& A. Ausili2
1Cenlro Interuniversitario
di Biologia Marina, Piazzale Mascagni 1, 57100 Livorno, Italy
2Instituto Centrale per
la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica Appticata at Mare,
Via L. Respighi 5, 00197 Rome, Italy
Received 18 November 1994; accepted
in revised form 22 September 1995
|
Abstract
In a project to assess the environmental impact of
dumping contaminated harbour material in a coastal marine area of
the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, sediments from different sites (harbour,
dumping and uncontaminated sites) were sampled in December 1993
and February 1994. In order to evaluate sediment quality, concentrations
of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr and Hg) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) were determinated and toxicity tests were carried out using
the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Interstitial water
and the sea water overlying sediments (bedded phase and suspended
phase) were tested for their effects on fertilization and embryogenesis.
Sediment texture was also considered. Metal concentrations, particularly
cadmium content, and PAH total concentrations, in harbour sediments
were generally higher than in offshore samples. No significant reductions
in fertilization were observed. However, effects on the embryonic
development to be greater than either bedded or suspended exposures.
Keywords: sediment, dredging activity, bioassay, Paracentrotus
lividus, Tyrrhenian sea
|
