Persistent and Emerging Organic Pollutants in the Marine Coastal Environment of the Gulf of Milazzo (Southern Italy): Human Health Risk Assessment

The Gulf of Milazzo (north-eastern Sicily) has been recognized as Italian Site of National Interest (SNI; areas characterized by high level of contamination with potential effects on human health) in 2005 because of its high level of pollution. In this study we measured the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polyBrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in seawater and sediments sampled from the Gulf of Milazzo in order to assess (i) the environmental status of contamination, and (ii) cancer and non-cancer human health risk potentially due to dermal absorption from contaminated seawater and/or ingestion of contaminated fish. Particularly, …