title: Historical trends (1998-2012) of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr) concentrations in marine sediments at four locations in the Northern Adriatic Sea.
abstract: Historical trends (1998-2012) nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr) concentrations in marine sediments were assessed at four locations in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Croatia) in the proximity of an oil refinery. Ecological risks were characterized by benchmarking the dataset against Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQG). A significant number of samples had Ni values above ERL with no exceedance of the ERL values for Cu and Cr. Weak positive historical trends were found for only for Cu. At all sites there were statistically significant correlations between Ni and Cr indicating a common origin of these heavy metals in the investigated marine sediments. There were statistically significant differences between the sites under the direct influence of the oil refinery compared to the control site indicating the possibility that the oil refinery is contributing to the concentration of these heavy metals in the marine sediments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, University of Rijeka, Braće Branchetta 20a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; Teaching Institute of Public Health, Krešimirova 52a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia. Electronic address: luka.traven@medri.uniri.hr.
authors.forename: Luka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Traven
authors.affiliation: Teaching Institute of Public Health, Krešimirova 52a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Nikolina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.affiliation: Teaching Institute of Public Health, Krešimirova 52a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Arijana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cenov
mesh_terms: D002857:Chromium / Q000032:analysis*; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis*; D017523:Croatia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D009532:Nickel / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002857:Chromium; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel
keywords: Ecological risk; Heavy metals; Historical trends; Marine sediments; Northern Adriatic Sea; Oil refinery