Quality evaluation multiapproach of sediments in water bodies in Southern Italy

This study reports the toxicity of sediments from rivers and canals collected at two six-month intervals from 19 sampling points of the province of Naples in Southern Italy. The toxicity of the pore-water from sediments was determined with a battery composed of different freshwater microbiotests. The toxicity varied substantially from station to station, but none of the Toxkit tests was either the most or the least sensitive for all stations. Chemical analyses were accomplished on some heavy metals. Furthermore, the in situ biological communities of macroinvertebrates were assessed. Most of tested sediments were found to be very toxic for several if not all the microbiotests as well as the biological communities (EBI). Comparison between toxicological data and heavy metals revealed a positive correlation for zinc and copper. This study confirms that only an integrated approach is suitable for the evaluation of contaminated sediments and that single parameters are not always able to define a situation of environmental deterioration