Historical trends (1998–2012) of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr) concentrations in marine sediments at four locations in the Northern Adriatic Sea

•A weak positive historical trend was observed for Cu at three out of four investigated sites.•Environmental risks posed by Ni, Cu and Cr in marine sediments at the investigated sites is low.•Ni and Cr concentrations in sediment were statistically significantly correlated indicating a common origin.

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.