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A set of ten heavy metals (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) was investigated in surface sediments (0-5 cm) collected in 21 sites of the Gulf of Trieste, Northern Adriatic Sea (Italy). The aim of this work was to obtain a preliminary assessment about the levels and spatial distribution of these selected elements. Ancillary parameters such as grain size, total organic carbon, and total nitrogen were also determined. The enrichment factor was calculated to discriminate if a natural condition or a status of anthropogenic contamination occurs. In addition, a set of sediment quality guidelines, mean effect low range and effect medium range quotients, was also applied in order to predict the probability of adverse biological effects on the benthic community.

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In future studies the time scale for microbiological parameters' decay could be linked to various environmental parameters such as light climate, temperature, and salinity. Interesting information would come from the study of new scenarios with different configurations of the discharge of the pipelines and/or the treatment plants and in particular from the improvements of the 3D version of the SHYFEM model, to take the stratification process into account which occurs during spring-summer, since the Northern Adriatic Sea is a very complex ecosystem, both as physical and ecological processes.

Mercury (Hg) poses environmental and health risks due to its global distribution and high toxicity exhibited in some of its chemical forms. Although Hg is naturally present in the environment, human activities\ud have increased its cycling among the land, atmosphere and ocean by a factor of three to five comparing the pre-industrial period to the present day. The Torviscosa chlor-alkali plant (CAP), which operated\ud since the beginning of twentieth century, was one of the most important Cl2 production capacity in the Northern Italy and was responsible for an uncontrolled discharge of Hg in the surrounding area. Previous studies reported the high degree of Hg pollution in soils, river sediments and surface waters of the area, but the Hg level in the atmospheric media was never taken into consideration. In this work, an integrated approach was applied with the aim to assess the level, distribution and dispersion of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) close to the CAP area. GEM levels were monitored by means of four surveys conducted from September 2014 to July 2015, at fixed locations and covering an area of about 10 km2 (including CAP area, Torviscosa village and reclaimed land), accomplished to Hg bioaccumulation measurements in selected lichens. The results indicate that the CAP area currently represents the main source of GEM in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The highest levels were found close to the old factory’s buildings (more than 5000 ng m−3), whereas other sites are less impacted. The emission of GEM is not clearly related to the intensity of solar radiation (temperature) at the soil level; however, this latter influences the release\ud from the old buildings employed in the past for the production activities. The most important factor driving the GEM dispersion is the wind, as confirmed by the map of lichens bioaccumulation. In this context, the\ud GEM plume partially affects the nearby village of Torviscosa (about 1 km), but the values found were always well below the international thresholds for residential areas, thus excluding the risk of inhalation for\ud local inhabitants

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Abstract. The suspended matter discharged by the Isonzo river has carried over, for centuries, heavily contaminated mine spoils from the Idrija mercury mining site (Slovenija). A frequently flooded area at the confluence of the Isonzo and Torre rivers was chosen for a preliminary study on the effects of long term mercury pollution on soil biological activities, Hg speciation and plant bioavailability. Soil mercury contamination reached up to about 80 µg g -1 near the banks of Isonzo river and decreased down to about 0.2 µg g -1 near the Torre river, with the predominance of mercuric sulfide and elemental mercury. Soil microbial biomass was not adversely affected by Hg contamination as most soil biological activities, with the exception of arylsulphatase and acid phosphatase, which showed significant negative trends against total mercury and its fractions. Two plant genres (Arum spp. and Rubus spp.) were collected in four different places: Rubus spp. showed the largest uptake capacity of mercury (about 1 µg g -1 ). Long term mercury contamination does not seem to constitute a stressing factor for soil biological activities but remains nevertheless a concern for its transfer through the food chain.