POPs in the Lagoon of Venice: budgets and pathways

Dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the ecosystem of the Lagoon of Venice were studied, in order to provide a general picture of conditions in the lagoon in terms of contamination by persistent organic pollutants (POPs). We present here novel data on atmospheric deposition, water, sediment and clam samples collected in the lagoon during the period January 2001–December 2004. Atmospheric deposition was sampled monthly at six sites located both close and far from large industrial and urban sources. Water samples were collected monthly from fifteen stations, and twenty-five samples of sediments and clams (Tapes philippinarum) were collected in four areas where clams are farmed and harvested inside the lagoon. All samples were analysed for PCDD/Fs, PCBs and HCB by HRGC/HRMS in the same laboratory. All samples examined (atmospheric deposition and water) substantially confirmed the spatial pattern reported in previously published data on sediments and atmospheric deposition: the zone surrounding the Porto Marghera petrochemical plant always had the highest levels of POPs (i.e., PCDD/Fs: atmosphere ∼6 pg of 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents (I-TE) m−2 d−1; water 0.37 pg I-TE l−1; sediment: 300 ng kg−1; clam 2.8 pg I-TE g−1), and the minima were found at points on the margins of the lagoon (PCDD/Fs: atmosphere ∼1 pg I-TE m−2 d−1; water 0.05 pg I-TE l−1; sediment: ∼5 ng kg−1; clam ∼0.2 pg I-TE g−1). Intermediate values were often encountered in the historical city centre of Venice and in the central part of the lagoon. To confirm this, new data on correlation between levels of PCDD/F in sediments and clams are reported, both for absolute values and for the PCDD/F “fingerprint”. There is always a clear fingerprinting signature (PCDF/PCDD > 1) for samples collected near Porto Marghera, and the opposite (PCDF/PCDD < 1) in the rest of the lagoon.