Pattern of distribution of selected trace elements in the marine brown alga, Sargassum filipendula Ag. from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Baseline concentrations together with biological variations of 29 trace elements (Ag, As, Au, Ba, Br, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sr, Tb, Th, Yb, Zn and Zr) were investigated in the brown alga, Sargassum filipendula collected from the western coast of Sri Lanka. Several elements (Co, Cr, Fe, Hf, Ni, Sc, Se, Th, Zr and the rare earth elements) were found to be enriched in S. filipendula compared to NIES No. 9 Sargasso reference material. Concentration of strontium in S. filipendula was highest at all sites. Chemical abundance of the rare earth elements decreased approximately linearly with increasing atomic numbers. The pattern of elemental distribution appears to be due to the fact that S. filipendula seems capable of concentrating high levels of trace elements under conditions of their very low availability in sea water. Concentration factors for elements in S. filipendula lie in a higher range compared with those reported in the literaure for brown algae.

Use of seaweeds for monitoring trace elements in coastal waters

“…Europe versus Sri Lanka, have been established. From the present study and from previous studies (Stoeppler et aI., 1986;Jayasekera, 1994) it is apparent that trace element concentrations in brown seaweeds vary with environmental concentrations. The species used in this study may be suitable for deducing comparative environmental data on the differences in the dissolved trace element content of coastal marine waters.…”

“…Even higher Cr concentrations were observed in 1994-Sargassum samples (Figure 3). In a previous study (Jayasekera, 1994), the Cr content in S. filipendula was found to be higher (2.35 mg kg -1) by a factor of 11-12 than in NIES (National Institute of Environmental Studies in Japan) No. 9 Sargasso reference material (1988) (0.2 mg kg-1).…”