Source Apportionment Assessment of Marine Sediment Contamination in a Post-Industrial Area (Bagnoli, Naples)

Sara Giglioli,Loris Colombo,Giovanna Armiento,Luigi Musco,Pasquale Contestabile,Arianna Azzellino,Diego Vicinanza,Renato Somma

doi:10.3390/w12082181

Abstract

The area of Bagnoli (Gulf of Naples, central Tyrrhenian Sea) has been heavily exposed to pollution for over a century due to the presence of industrial sites along its coastline. The aim of this study is to analyze contaminant concentrations (i.e., heavy metals and hydrocarbons) in seabed sediments through a statistical multivariate approach. Multivariate methods permit us to describe the pollution dynamics affecting the area and distinguish between anthropogenic and natural pollution sources. Additionally, the association between contamination patterns and the wave climate characteristics of the gulf (i.e., wave period, direction, height, power, and energy) is investigated. The study confirms that the main contamination source in the Bagnoli bay is anthropogenic activities (i.e., former steel plant and sewage discharges) for the majority of investigated pollutants. It also provides evidence, however, for the potential co-existence of multiple anthropogenic and geogenic sources of arsenic and other metals that may be originating also from the water-rock interaction and submarine volcanic emissions in the Phlegraean area.

Highlights

The contamination of marine environments represents an increasing global concern because of the potential risks to both human health and along the coast heavily affecting the marine ecosystems.The Mediterranean Sea, due to reduced circulation and the presence of multiple industrial inputs along the coastline, is vulnerable to environmental impacts and risks
principal component analysis (PCA)/factor analysis (FA) allowed us to extract four rotated PCs accounting for about 86% of cumulative variance from the original 29 variables
Due to the high urbanization of the Neapolitan coastal zone it is impossible to find an unpolluted area-characterized by the same natural environmental framework of the impacted industrial site—to use as a control area

Summary

Introduction

The contamination of marine environments represents an increasing global concern because of the potential risks to both human health and along the coast heavily affecting the marine ecosystems.The Mediterranean Sea, due to reduced circulation and the presence of multiple industrial inputs along the coastline, is vulnerable to environmental impacts and risks. The historical industrial district and metallurgical production at the Bagnoli steel factory (ILVA), active for roughly a century, has exposed the marine sediments of the Gulf of Pozzuoli (GoP) to pollution by heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This area became a key site for twentieth-century Italian economic. Water 2020, 12, 2181 growth through industrial plants that produced steel and cement using iron ore and coal transported from other locations and processed on site These activities, recognized as detrimental to the environment and economically impractical, prompted the industrial area to be dismantled starting in the mid-1990’s [2]. The impact of heavy industries was never completely remediated, and this negligence results in high concentrations of PAHs and trace metals in marine sediments [3]

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