The Venice Lagoon is exposed to atmospheric pollutants from industrial activities, thermoelectric power plants, petrochemical plants,
incinerator, domestic heating, ship traffic, glass factories and vehicular emissions on the mainland. In 2005, construction began on
the mobile dams (MOSE), one dam for each channel connecting the lagoon to the Adriatic Sea as a barrier against high tide. These
construction works could represent an additional source of pollutants. PM10 samples were taken on random days between 2007 and 2010
at three different sites: Punta Sabbioni, Chioggia and Malamocco, located near the respective dam construction worksites. Chemical
analyses of V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, Sb, Tl and Pb in PM10 samples were performed by Inductively coupled plasmaquadrupole
mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS) and results were used to identify the main aerosol sources. The correlation of measured data
with meteorology, and source apportionment, failed to highlight a contribution specifically associated to the emissions of the MOSE
construction works. The comparison of the measurements at the three sites showed a substantial homogeneity of metal concentrations
in the area. Source apportionment with principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) showed that a four
principal factors model could describe the sources of metals in PM10. Three of them were assigned to specific sources in the area and
one was characterised as a source of mixed origin (anthropogenic and crustal). A specific anthropogenic source of PM10 rich in Ni and
Cr, active at the Chioggia site, was also identified