Author(s)

J. Faganeli, B. Vriser, H. Leskovsek, B. Cermelj & R. Planinc

Abstract

The impact of motorway pollution on the coastal sea in the Bay of Koper (Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic) was studied by the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Ni, Mn, Cu, Cr, Cd) in marine sediments, and selected benthic organisms, namely, the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis, the gastropod Patella coerulea and seagrass Cymodocea nodosa. The impact of motorway pollution was evident in higher contents of PAH and heavy metals in bivalves and gastropods collected in the mediolitoral because the contaminants are prevalently bound to particles and accumulated by organisms. The accumulation of pollutants in the sediments of the Bay of Koper is less significant due to the sedimentological p

Keywords