title: Are conventional statistical techniques exhaustive for defining metal background concentrations in harbour sediments? A case study: The Coastal Area of Bari (Southeast Italy).
abstract: Sediment contamination by metals poses significant risks to coastal ecosystems and is considered to be problematic for dredging operations. The determination of the background values of metal and metalloid distribution based on site-specific variability is fundamental in assessing pollution levels in harbour sediments. The novelty of the present work consists of addressing the scope and limitation of analysing port sediments through the use of conventional statistical techniques (such as: linear regression analysis, construction of cumulative frequency curves and the iterative 2σ technique), that are commonly employed for assessing Regional Geochemical Background (RGB) values in coastal sediments. This study ascertained that although the tout court use of such techniques in determining the RGB values in harbour sediments seems appropriate (the chemical-physical parameters of port sediments fit well with statistical equations), it should nevertheless be avoided because it may be misleading and can mask key aspects of the study area that can only be revealed by further investigations, such as mineralogical and multivariate statistical analyses.
authors.affiliation: DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: matilda.mali@poliba.it.
authors.forename: Matilda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mali
authors.affiliation: DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Michela
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Dell'Anna
authors.affiliation: DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mastrorilli
authors.affiliation: DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.affiliation: ARPA PUGLIA, Corso Trieste, 27 I-70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ungaro
authors.affiliation: IMAA-CNR, C.da S. Loja - Zona Industriale, I-85050 Tito Scalo, PZ, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Belviso
authors.affiliation: IMAA-CNR, C.da S. Loja - Zona Industriale, I-85050 Tito Scalo, PZ, Italy.
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fiore
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007558:Italy; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Harbour pollution; Metal background concentration; Mineralogical analyses; Multivariate statistical techniques; Sediments