Analysis of Organic Micropollutants in Sediment Samples of the Venice Lagoon, Italy

Surface sediment samples were collected at six locations of the Lagoon of Venice reflecting potential different contamination sources and representative of different hydrological situations. Analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) and coprostanol have been carried out by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to assess the influence of various pollution sources: urban, industrial and combustion processes. PAHs, PCBs, coprostanol, and LABs showed the highest levels in the sample collected within the city of Venice (Canal Grande) indicating a very heavy contamination due to combustion sources and to the domestic waste waters directly entering the canals of the city. The highest levels of PCDD/PCDFs were found in samples collected near the industrial area of Porto Marghera. The investigation on the PCDD/PCDFs homologue profiles suggested the presence of two dififeient sources for these pollutants, one due to combustion processes and another one due to the chemical processes of torto Marghera.