Potentially toxic elements in sediments of an industrialized coastal zone of the Northern Aegean Sea

Abstract

[EN] Nine sediment samples from Filippos B port, Kavala, northern Greece, were collected and analyzed for their content of 42 elements. The results indicate that both major and trace elements can be divided into two groups according to their anthropogenic source. The first group includes Al, Cl, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, S, Ag, As, Cd, Ce, Hg, La, Mo, Pb, Sb, Se, U, and Y, which come from a phosphoric fertilizer industry, while the rest of the elements (B, Ba, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Ga, Ge, Li, Mn, Ni, Rb, Sn, Th, Ti, V, W, Zn, and Zr) belong to the second group and can be traced to the other local industrial activities, as well. Bivariate analysis indicated that among the elements within each group high positive correlation coefficients exist.