Use of seaweeds for monitoring trace elements in coastal waters

Abstract

Concentrations of a wide range of trace elements: arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, hafnium, nickel, thorium, uranium, zinc and the rare earth elements, cerium, europium, samarium, terbium and ytterbium were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis in the brown alga,Fucus vesiculosus from Eckwarder Hörne, North Sea and from Rügen, Baltic Sea. Another brown alga,Sargassum filipendula from Sri Lanka, Indian ocean (representing an unpolluted control station) was similarly investigated. Cobalt, chromium and nickel concentrations were highest inF. vesiculosus from the North Sea while zinc was highest in samples from the Baltic Sea, reflecting high levels of these elements in coastal waters of the North and the Baltic sea. Cadmium, cobalt, nickel and zinc levels were lowest inS. filipendula from Sri Lanka, probably demonstrating lower levels of those elements in coastal waters. Concentration levels of hafnium, thorium, uranium, and the rare earth elements were highest inS. filipendula. Two years later in 1994,S. filipendula along withUlva sp. (green alga) was resampled from the same sampling site, and in addition to the above elements, six other trace elements (Ag, Ba, Br, Rb, Se and Sr) were determined.Sargassium filipendula showed a particular affinity for Ag, As, Br and Sr. For the other elements, marginal concentration differences were observed betweenS. filipendula andUlva sp., probably reflecting the regional background levels. Substantially higher concentrations of Hf, Th, U, and the rare earths were found again in the 1994Sargassum andUlva samples, reflecting the effect of a substrate rich in rare earth elements. The brown algae used in this study may be used to monitor trace elements in coastal waters.

Heavy metal pollution monitoring using the brown seaweed Padina durvillaei in the coastal zone of the Santa Rosalía mining region, Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

“…Seaweed heavy metal monitoring in an area with varying pollution is an effective tool to develop environmental (Jayasekera and Rossbach 1996;Topcuoğlu et al 2003). The successful, but not systematic, use of the species Padina durvillaei, selected for this study was previously reported by Sánchez-Rodríguez et al (2001) in Loreto Bay, by Rodríguez Meza (2005) for the Santa Rosalía coastline and by Carrillo Domínguez et al (2002) for mixed dried tissues of the seaweed of the southern Baja California Peninsula.…”

Lanthanides and Algae

“…Such a wide range of biotic concentrations of lanthanides can be generated by: (i) relative concentrations of elements in water; (ii) physical and metabolic processes specific to each type of algae (cell wall components, enzymes, proteins, etc. ); and (iii) environmental factors specific to each area, e.g., temperature, light, pH, and nitrogen availability that can affect the two previous factors [22][23][24].…”

“…Because of their particular affinity to algae, the lanthanide profile may be a useful indicator for exploring the ecology of marine environments [10] and can also be used to monitor sources of pollution from natural events such as volcanic activity [25]. In combination with macroalgal sampling, the lanthanide profile may help to characterize coastal water quality and pollution [22,23,27].…”

Analysis of metals and metalloids present in Sri Lankan dried seaweeds and assessing the possibility of health impact to general consumption patterns

“…These values are comparatively low when comparing the levels of F. vesculosus from other sites in North America and Europe, which are affected more with the heavy metal sources in the area. However, these values can vary depending on the availability and impact of the local metal sources of the area (Forsberg et al, 1988;Riget et al, 1997;Jayasekera and Rossbach, 1996;Preston et al, 1972). For example, Zinc level found in Southern North Sea in America, was 400 mg kg À1 (Dutton et al, 1973) while high Iron level of 600 mg kg −1 is observed in the same area (Struck et al, 1997).…”