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Heavy Metal Distribution, Sources and Contamination Assessment in Polluted Marine Sediments: Keratsini Outfall Sewer Area, Saronikos Gulf, Greece

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Abstract

The central sewer of Athens had been discharging untreated sewage from 1950 until 1995 in the marine area between the island of Psyttalia and Keratsini. As a result, a surficial layer of organic mud was formed covering the seafloor. To assess the spatial and temporal distribution of metal contaminants in the area, six sediment cores were collected and analyzed for grain composition, organic carbon content (Corg), and metal concentrations. ICP-MS and AAS were used to determine the following metal concentrations: Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Fe, As, Mn, and Co. Four different lithofacies were identified based on grain size and macroscopic observations. The contamination of the sediments was assessed according to Enrichment factor (EF), Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), and Pollution Loading Index (PLI), the latter was used in order to assess the overall toxicity status of the sediments. Factor analysis was also performed in the heavy metal, Corg, and Ca datasets. R-mode factor analysis indicates at least three different pollution sources in the area, while Q-mode analysis indicates three different groups of sediment samples according to their pollution degree. The present work stands among others to contribute to the better knowledge of the environmental impact of urban wastes on the shallow marine sediments adjoining large cities areas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the members of the Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography, Department of Geology, University of Patras, for their help in chemical and grain size analysis and also Dr. N. Lambrakis and the members of the laboratory of Hydrogeology, Department of Geology of the University of Patras for their help in chemical analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography, Department of Geology, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece

    Anastasia Gkaragkouni, Spyros Sergiou, Maria Geraga, Dimitrios Christodoulou & George Papatheodorou

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece

    Helen Papaefthymiou

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  1. Anastasia Gkaragkouni
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  2. Spyros Sergiou
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  3. Maria Geraga
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  4. Helen Papaefthymiou
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  5. Dimitrios Christodoulou
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  6. George Papatheodorou
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Contributions

Anastasia Gkaragkouni: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing—Original Draft, Visualization, Writing—Review & Editing. Spyros Sergiou: Software, Formal analysis, Writing—Review & Editing, Visualization. Maria Geraga: Methodology, Investigation. Helen Papaefthymiou: Conceptualization, Validation. Dimitris Christodoulou: Software, Investigation, Visualization. George Papatheodorou: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision.

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Correspondence to George Papatheodorou.

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Highlights

• An organic mud layer lies at Keratsini strait, attributed to the central sewer of Athens

• There is considerable contamination in the organic mud layer covering the sea floor

• The assessment of contamination was based on environmental indices (EF, Igeo, PLI)

• R-mode factor analysis indicates at least three pollution sources

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Gkaragkouni, A., Sergiou, S., Geraga, M. et al. Heavy Metal Distribution, Sources and Contamination Assessment in Polluted Marine Sediments: Keratsini Outfall Sewer Area, Saronikos Gulf, Greece. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 477 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05400-z

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