Surface sediments pollution due to shipwreck s/s ''Stuttgart'': a multidisciplinary approach

Shipwrecks may pose a serious source of pollution for marine ecosystems. For this reason, it is of great importance to perform a marine ecosystem risk assessment due to plausible wreck presence. One of elements of such an assessment is determining the state of the environment in the vicinity of the wreck. In the work presented, the results of studies on surface sediments samples collected around the s/s Stuttgart ship sunk during WW2 in the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic) are given. 23 samples of sediments were collected and subsequently 12 metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Zn), 16 PAHs and 7 PCBs were determined. Metals were measured with ICP-MS and AAS while organics with GC–MS. The chemometric evaluation was performed in order to determine possible similarity patterns between the chemicals measured. Clear dependence between PAHs and PCBs was stated as well as spatial similarities between the content of the chemicals determined.