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Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb and Cd concentration distribution in six green macroalgae species from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were determined. The measurement of these metals was carried out during six seasons from 1996 to 2002 using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Samples were collected from eight different sites-Shabla, Kaliakra, Tuzlata, Ravda, Ahtopol and Sinemoretz. The obtained heavy metal (HM) data (mean values microg/g) for all algae are: 650 +/- 100 for Fe, 184 +/- 15 for Mn, 5.6 +/- 0.5 for Cu, 3.3 +/- 0.3 for Pb and 1.1 +/- 0.2 for Cd. The obtained HM contents indicate that different species demonstrate various degree of metal accumulation and the obtained higher values in the northern sector of the studied zone can be attributed to the discharge influence of the big rivers, entering the Black Sea-Danube, Dnyepr, Dnester and local pollutant emissions. All data show that there is no serious contamination in green macroalgae with heavy and toxic metals along the whole Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

The content of uranium, thorium, radium, lead, polonium, and plutonium in bottom sediments and algae from two locations at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have been determined. Some parent:progeny ratios for evaluation of the geochemical behavior of the nuclides have been estimated as well. The extractable and total uranium and thorium are determined by two separate radiochemical procedures to differentiate the more soluble chemical forms of the elements and to estimate the potential hazard for the biosphere and for humans. No distinct seasonal variation as well as no significant change in total and extractable uranium (also for 226Ra) content is observed. The same is valid for extractable thorium while the total thorium content in the first two seasons is slightly higher. Our data show that 210Po content is accumulated more in the sediments than 210Pb, and the evaluated disequilibria suggest that the two radionuclides belong to more recent sediment layers deposited in the slime samples compared to the silt ones for the different seasons. The obtained values for plutonium are in the lower limits of the data cited in literature, which is quite clear as there are no plutonium discharge facilities at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The obtained values for the activity ratio 238Pu:239 + 240Pu are higher for Bjala sediments compared to those of Kaliakra. The ratio values are out of the variation range for the global contamination with weapon tests fallout plutonium which is probably due to Chernobyl accident contribution. The dependence of natural radionuclide content on the sediment type as well as the variation of nuclide accumulation for two types of algae in two sampling locations for five consecutive seasons is evaluated. No serious contamination with natural radionuclides in the algae is observed.

A comparative analysis about the accumulation of heavy metal, natural and technogenic radionuclides from the Black Sea environment in different Bulgarian coastline regions is made. The possibilities to use Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta algae phylums as bioindicators in marine environment are investigated. Environmental contamination in the Black Sea alga species (green and red) was studied from 1992 to 2003. Sampling sites were selected to cover the whole coastal region. Low level gamma spectrometry was used to determine the natural and technogenic nuclide concentrations. The heavy metal concentrations were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). The obtained data show that radionuclide and metal concentrations depend on the macrophyte type. Tendencies in the concentration of pollutant variations during the studied period are examined and all data give information about different macrophytic species' ability to accumulate certain elements from one and the same sampling location. All obtained results show that use of macroalgae in marine environmental monitoring reduces the need for complex studies on chemical speciation of aquatic contaminants and makes algae valuable indicators for seawater quality assessment. All data show the lack of serious pollution along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.