Baseline Concentrations of Trace Metals in Macroalgae from the Strait of Magellan, Chile

Abstract

Samples of four different species of seaweed were collected monthly between October 2000 and March 2001 from the coast of the Strait of Magellan, Chile to establish baseline levels of trace metals (silver, total mercury, nickel, lead, antimony, vanadium and zinc) and to compare the accumulation capacity among species. The algae included in the study were Adenocystis utricularis (n=15); Enteromorpha sp. (n=11), Mazzaella laminarioides (n=12) and Porphyra columbina (n=6). The concentration range of each metal in microg g(-1) dry weight varied as follows: Ag=ND-0.3, Hg=ND-0.02, Ni=ND-12.6, Pb = ND-11.2, Sb=ND-1.97, V=ND-11.34 and Zn=14.10-79. Results showed that levels of Ag, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn for all species were similar to those found in other studies for non-contaminated areas with very little influence from anthropogenic activity. Also among the four species studied macroalgae Enteromorpha sp. had the highest capacity for metal accumulation and could therefore be considered as a biomonitor for future studies in the area.

Total arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium contents in edible dried seaweed in Korea

“…The current mercury concentration in seaweed analysed was 0.011 mg kg À1 , which was similar to or less than the 0.0097 mg kg À1 of Hwang et al (2007), the 0.01 mg kg À1 of Mok et al (2005) in Korea, the 0.189 mg kg À1 of Misheer et al (2006) in South Africa, and the 0.01 mg kg À1 of Astorga-Espafia et al (2007) in Chile. With regard to mercury, no sample exceeded the maximum limit of 0.5 mg kg À1 of mercury in fish, With regard to an estimation of intake, if one assumes a mean consumption of 8.5 g day À1 and the range of mercury contents found in the present study (0.001-0.05 mg kg À1 ), these seaweeds would contribute between 0.008 and 0.42 mg day À1 , which is 0.02-4.7% (average ¼ 0.2%) of the PTWI (5 mg kg À1 bw week À1 ) recommended by the FAO/WHO for an adult weighting 63.6 kg (Korean standard weight).…”

Influence of water washing treatment on Ulva prolifera-derived biochar properties and sorption characteristics of ofloxacin

“…surface area, high cation exchange capacity and surface functional groups), which significantly depend on the biomass source and pyrolysis conditions 14 , 15 . Recently, macroalgae have been used as the precursor for preparing biochars because of their massive abundance and easily acquired nature 16 . Moreover, the conversion of biomass to biochar as one potential end-use will improve the resource utilisation of macroalgae, especially for the ‘pest’ species (e.g.…”

Nitrogen and metal pollution in the southern Caspian Sea: a multiple approach to bioassessment

“…Macroalgae are widely recognized also as a powerful tool for the monitoring of metal pollution in marine ecosystems due to their ability to bind metals (Astorga-España et al 2008), which can lead the concentrations of metals to several orders of magnitude higher than in waters (Villares et al 2001). In addition, the concentrations of metals in macroalgae are less variable than in waters, where they are influenced by hydrological factors (Billah et al 2017).…”

“…Thus, a reliable representation of metal pollution through water metal concentration analysis will require a greater number of samplings and samples, with consequent increasing costs and timeconsuming procedures (Villares et al 2001). Macroalgae are common in polluted sites and easy to sample (Astorga-España et al 2008;Dailer et al 2010). Their use is thus successful in order to obtain spatial and temporal information on bioavailability of metal pollutants (Chakraborty et al 2014).…”