title: Distribution of Cr and Pb in artificial sea water and their sorption in marine sediments: an example from experimental mesocosms.
abstract: The uptake of two heavy metals (chromium and lead) in sediments in experimental mesocosms under exposure to different metal concentrations was evaluated by monitoring their concentrations over time both in seawater and in sediment. Two separate experiments under laboratory-controlled conditions were carried out for the two metals. Sediments were collected from a protected natural area characterized by low anthropic influence and were placed in mesocosms that were housed in aquaria each with seawater at a different metal concentration. At pre-established time intervals, seawater and sediment samples were collected from each mesocosm for chemical analyses. Quantification of chromium and lead concentration in seawater and sediment samples was carried out by atomic absorption spectrometer with graphite furnace. Low doses of chromium and lead (<1 mg L-1) do not entail an uptake in sediments and waters. At doses ≥1 mg L-1, evolution of concentrations over time shows significant differences between these two metals: (i) chromium absorption from seawater is twice faster than lead; (ii) lead accumulates in considerable amount in sediments. The different behaviour of the two investigated heavy metals could be ascribed to different interactions existing between metal ions and different components of sediment.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 20-22, 90123, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maccotta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 20-22, 90123, Palermo, Italy. claudia.cosentino@unipa.it.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cosentino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università di Urbino "Carlo BO", via Ca' le Suore, 61029, Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coccioni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università di Urbino "Carlo BO", via Ca' le Suore, 61029, Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frontalini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 20-22, 90123, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scopelliti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 20-22, 90123, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caruso
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002857:Chromium / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002857:Chromium; D007854:Lead
keywords: Chromium; GF-AAS; Lead; Mesocosm; Seawater; Sediment; Sorption