Pre-industrial sediment concentrations of metals: insights from the Venice lagoon (Italy)

Abstract

This study investigated the occurrence of selected metals and metalloids (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) in radio-dated sediment cores from a coastal lagoon (Lagoon of Venice, Italy) by critically reviewing and grouping available data. Pre-industrial concentrations (pICs, estimated for the period before the early 1900s) for the Venice lagoon are identified according to the 2σ statistical procedure (2σ-pICs), i.e. the upper bound values of the dataset distribution. Results show the following 2σ-pICs (µg/g, d.w.