Examination and evaluation of a coastal environment contamination at a formed shooting area.

In the recent past a very beautiful area along the interior coastal environment of Venice lagoon was used as a Clay Pigeon Shooting for a wide period. The sport of Clay Pigeon Shooting involves using a shotgun to shoot at and break a circular flying target made from a fragile material. It is released from a trap positioned in front of, or at the back of, a shooter; then, a typical target flight area characterizes each shooting site, where, in time, pellets (leadshot), shot cartridge, clay pigeon fragments and generic ammunition residues are found. So, in a brackish water contest soil/sediment treatment, waste removal and potential re-use are extremely delicate processes. The first step of our work was investigate if heavy metal (Pb, As and Sb) release and following leaching event occurred. Therefore, soil/sediment profiles in three hot sites of the target flight area has been performed and metal’s total and bioavailable fraction has been investigated. As well, grassy layer coating the sites and organisms living into has been picked, in order to verify a potential uptake and bioaccumulation.