Distribution of heavy metals in marine sediments of Palermo Gulf (Sicily, Italy)

Concentrations of Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Znhave been measured, by atomic absorption spectrophotometry,in the fine fraction (<63 μm) of surfacesediments collected in 30 sites in the Palermo Gulf(Sicily, Italy) in order to assess the levels and thespatial distribution of these elements. Enrichmentfactors calculated with respect to clean areas havebeen considered to discriminate between levels due tobackground or to pollution contributions. The samplingstations, which form a grid inside these areas,are characterized by geographic proximity and by thepresence of pollution sources. Ratio matching techniquealong with hierarchical clustering, minimumspanning tree and principal component analysis havebeen used for the statistical analysis of data, allowingto better describe the spatial distribution of metallevels. Our work allowed to assess the anthropogeniccontribution to the pollution of the area underinvestigation through industrial and domestic wastes,presence of an harbour area and river inflow.