Elemental analysis of mussels and possible health risks arising from their consumption as a food: The case of Boka Kotorska Bay, Adriatic Sea.

The present study investigated the essential and non-essential elements in cultivated and wild mussels and assessed the health risk arising from their consumption as an impact of rapid growth and intensive production of Mytilus galloprovincialis in the mussel farms of the Boka Kotorska Bay. The concentrations of macro, micro, nonessential and even the small amounts of potentially toxic elements in the cultivated and wild mussels were influenced by industry, tourism and the geohydrology of the Bay. In the case of cultivated mussels, the limiting factor, i.e., the element the elevated concentration of which restricts mussels consumption, was Zr, while in the case of wild mussels the limiting factors were Cr and As. The sites with cultivated mussels stand out as sites with the highest calculated element pollution index, the total hazard index and with higher estimated risk to the health of consumers.

Fast self-absorption correction procedure for low energy 210Pb gamma emission in environmental samples.

Gamma ray spectrometry is a convenient method to determine the concentration of 210Pb in environmental samples. It normally requires corrections for self-absorption of gamma rays, as environmental samples often differ in composition from each other and from the calibration standards. The procedure proposed, based on the use of a special shaped source for the absorption measurement, is more accurate than the conventional point source and, at the same time, as simple and quick.

Radiochemical characterisation, heavy metal determination and morphologic evolution of coastal sediments in the Ravenna area (Italy).

The basic aim of this work was to achieve a preliminary but integrated characterisation of an area of the Ravenna littoral coastline. The use of suitable computerised procedures has allowed the reconstruction of the morphological evolution of this area by means of historical and recent cartography. Coastal sediments were characterised by sampling 3 cores at about 2 km offshore. The following aspects were studied: 1) Mineralogical characterisation of both the total and the fine fraction of sediments by X-ray Diffraction. 2) Characteristion of sedimentary horizons by radiodating. 3)Magnetic susceptibility profiling. 4) Determination of some heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd) by anodic stripping voltammetry.