Sepetiba Bay is located 60 km from the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro and has for centuries provided the economic base of living communities along its banks and islands. Its fish, besides subsistence, has already been widely used to supply several markets in the metropolitan region. However, in the last decades it suffers with an intense industrial development, with the installation of many large industries in its surroundings, as two steel mills, naval terminals for containers and also terminals for loading and unloading iron ore and coal. It can be added to this scenario a rapid population density, which intensified in the 1960 s as a result of the establishment of such industries. The absence of a basic sanitation system and infrastructure to supply the population demand only tends to aggravate the environmental conditions of the coastal system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of Sepetiba Bay s sediments using quality guideline as comparison parameters, to verify correlations between potentially toxic metals with others parameters indicative of quality, to evaluate the variation in sedimentation rates at different points in the bay and raise a history of contamination of the region through the dated sediment core samples with 210Pb. Between June and September of 2016, 38 points of superficial sediments were sampled along the entire bay area and 9 sediment core samples up to 90 cm depth. The analyzed variables were: total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen, delta 13C, delta 15N, granulometry, toxic metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr and Hg) and acid volatile sulfides / simultaneously extracted metals (AVS/SEM). The molar ratio (summation [SEM] – [AVS]) / TOC, which is the criterion adopted by USEPA as a quality guideline for AVS, indicated that the bottom sediment does not present a probable toxicity to benthic organisms. The sulfides and organic matter concentrations found in the sediments together with the silt and clay fractions showed to be important immobilizing phases of the metals. The concentration of the metals was determined by the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. To the results obtained, the hierarchical cluster analysis (AHC) was applied, in order to obtain information that better described the studied region. It was possible to subdivide the Sepetiba Bay into 4 areas and also to observe hotspots where the concentration of one or more parameters increases substantially, standing out in the sampled area. In respect to sediment quality guidelines (ERL – Effects Range-Low e ERM – Effects RangeMedian) established by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the vast majority of sampling points showed concentrations of Zinc above the ERM, in a range where the probability of the occurrence of adverse effects to marine life is greater than 70 percent. Cadmium concentrations between ERL and ERM were observed at some points, where the probability of adverse effects is close to 36 percent. All other metals determined in this study presented values below the ERL, with low probability of being toxic to marine life. Sedimentation rates were determined by the 210Pb dating method. The CF:CR (constant flux:constant rate) and CRS (constant rate of supply) models were applied and the dating results were validated based on the Zn and Cd concentration variation throughout the sediment core. Based on the results obtained it was possible to suggest a new sampling grid to be used in the environmental monitoring program developed by the Instituto Estadual do Ambiente (INEA). The proposed grid has 18 sampling points, reducing by half the original used by the environmental agency.