Distribution of chlorinated organic pollutants in harbor sediments of Livorno (Italy): a multivariate approach to evaluate dredging sediments.

Dredging is a very important procedure for harbor management. In Italy the guidelines for the offshore dumping of dredged materials are issued by the Ministry of Environment. They described a few steps of dredging activities, such as the sampling strategy, but do not deal with limits or guide-values for the chemical, physical and biological composition of the resulting sediments. The quality of dredged materials is mainly dependent on the presence of inorganic and organic pollutants. In particular, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organo-chlorinated pesticides are seen as a high priority in marine environment by international organizations because of their persistence, toxicity and bioaccumulation capacity. In this article the presence of some PCBs and organo-chlorinated pesticides in sediment samples collected from the harbor of Livorno (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea) was investigated. The concentration of HCHs, Aldrin, Chlordanes, DDEs, DDTs, and PCBs in 12 representative sites ranged between <1 microg kg(-1) and 95, 19, 32, 35, 107, and 111 microg kg(-1), respectively. The application of univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, such as linear regression analysis and principal component analysis, to the experimental data showed a different distribution of PCBs in the two sediment layers. On the contrary, the vertical distribution of the other investigated pollutants was more homogeneous and affected by random variability. The multivariate approach was an important tool to establish more rational criteria for the management of dredged materials.