Levels of hazardous trace elements in estuarine sediments, fish, mussels and wild boar collected from the Rasa Bay area (Croatia)

A part of the Ra??a Bay (western Croatia) is an estuary that is fed by the sediment load from the Ra??a River. The local area had been affected by the former Ra??a coal industry. The aim of this study was to determine levels of hazardous trace ele-ments (HTEs) in bottom estuarine sediments, fish and mussels collected from two sites downstream of the Ra??a River mouth, and a wild boar???s kidney donated by hunters. The pseudo-total concentrations of 21 HTEs in sediments were obtained by the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique. The results showed that sediment collected closest to the former Ra??a coal separation unit ??talije was enriched in V, Sr, Ni, Cu, and Pb. Concentrations of HTEs in flathead grey mullet, wild blue mussels, and wild boar were obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed that Pb, Cd and Hg in fish and wild mussels were not elevated compared to the Regulation levels of contaminants in food. Lead and Cd in the kidney of a wild boar exceeded the prescribed maximum values for food. This study warrants further geochemical investigations of the Ra??a Bay environment.