The aim of this work was to evaluate antimony (Sb) as apotentially valuable tracer of the anthropogenic impact on soilsand estuarine sediments. Antimony was determined in fifteenroadsoils from a medium-size city, La Coruña (NW of Spain);and twelve sediments from two estuaries (La Coruña and Ares-Betanzos). Sb determination was accomplished in a rapid andreliable way by directly measuring the solid samples with anautomatic ultrasonic slurry sampling-ETAAS device. Soil contentsranged from 0.29 to 8.81 μg g⁻¹. A relation between Sbconcentration and motor vehicle intensity was observed.Regarding estuarine sediments, Sb amounted from 0.22 to 1.51 μg g⁻¹, for the La Coruña estuary and 0.24 to 0.71 μg g⁻¹, forthe Ares-Betanzos estuary; higher Sb values were found forcoastal locations whereas lower contents corresponded to `inner'samples. In order to confirm these findings, other pollutantswere studied: As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, aliphatichydrocarbons (AH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).These values, along with the Sb ones, were subjected tomultivariate studies intended to elucidate whether Sb correlated(and to what extent) to other well-known anthropogenic pollutants. Thus, Sb became associated to Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in road soils and to As, Cu, Zn, PAH, Pb and unresolved hydrocarbons, in sediments.

The cement industry has been one of the major sources of air pollution in the past and the Turkish Air Quality Protection Regulation has issued limits also to trace elementemissions to minimise the polluting effects of this industrialsector. In the present study, dust samples were obtained isokinetically from 18 main stacks of 10 cement plants locatedin different geographical areas of Turkey. The samples were analysed for trace elements Hg, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Se, Te, TI, V, Sb, Ba, Zn, Co, Sr, Cu, Bi, Mo, Be, and As. The results are presented both as concentration in the dust samples as well as emissions per unit production, and concentration inthe stack gas. The trace element emissions of the main stacksagree to great extent with the values given in the literature. On the other hand, the trace element emissions of the plants considered are well below the limits set in the Turkish Air Quality Protection Regulation.

Six seaweed species of the Rhodophyta family were sampled for atwo-year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the Atlanticcoast of Ghana (part of the Atlantic Ocean). The species wereanalysed to determine the levels of eleven chemicalelements namely: Al, As, Br, Cd, Fe, La, Mn, Ni, Hg, V and Zn byInstrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Al, Br, Ni, andZn were measured in all the seaweed species studied. The elementAl generally showed the highest concentrations in most of thespecies analysed while Hg levels were the lowest. Precision andaccuracy of the method have been evaluated and the detectionlimits also calculated. The results showed high variability inand between species, among sampling sites and times ofcollection. The high values of metal concentrations in themacroalgae suggest that these marine organisms can be used asbiological indicators for studing marine pollution.