Hazardous substances in the sediments and their pathways from potential sources in the eastern Gulf of Finland

Contamination by hazardous substances is one of the main environmental problems in eastern Gulf Finland, Baltic Sea. A trilateral effort to sample and analyse heavy metals (HMs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organotins from bottom sediments 2019–2020 were conducted along with harvesting historical data Russian, Estonian Finnish waters. We suggest that input still occurs ship traffic routes. The tributyltin content exceeded established quality criteria up more than 300 times. High contamination PAHs found near ports, most likely originate incomplete fuel incineration processes. Neva River Estuary Luga Bay might potentially suffer severe cadmium contamination. high ecological risk attributed HMs was detected at deep offshore areas. simulated accumulation pattern qualitatively agrees field observations sediments, demonstrating potential numerical tools tackle problems.