Trace elements in the common brown algae and in sea water

Abstract

Sea water probably contains all the chemical elements, although a number of them have not yet been detected. Considerable information is available on the occurrence of various elements in marine plants and animals, but it is far from complete for any one biological group. Except for recent work by Spooner (1949), on the absorption of radioactive strontium and yttrium by marine algae, no detailed study of the trace elements in the brown algae, nor any attempt to correlate the trace elements in sea water with those in the algae, appears to have been carried out. The following is a brief résumé of the work that has been done in this field.

Certain metals in three coastal algae from Ras Beirut waters

“…In comparison to levels found in another green alga, Ulva lactuca (Linnaeus), taken from the approximate same locations in July and August, 1975(Shiber & Washburn, 1978, the copper and iron concentrations in H. tuna were much higher, and lead was also higher Colpomenia sinuosa seemed to concentrate rather high levels of lead compared to levels found in other species of brown algae from various parts of the world (Black & Mitchell, 1952;Stenner & Nickless, 1975 ;Bradfield et al, 1976 ;Seeliger & Edwards, 1977). Cadmium in this alga was either slightly lower than some reported levels for other species (Nickless et al, 1972 ;Stenner &Nickless, 1975 ;Bradfield et al, 1976), or within a similar range (Dutton et al, 1973 ;Leatherland & Burton, 1974;Lande, 1977 ;Bryan & Hummerstone, 1977), whereas copper, nickel and especially iron appeared to be relatively high (Black & Mitchell, 1952 ;Preston et al, 1972 ;Dutton et al, 1973 ;Bradfield et al, 1976 ;Bryan & Hummerstone, 1977) . The non-detectable (n .d .)…”

Strontium and barium in sea water and marine organisms

“…Black & Mitchell (1952) define an 'accumulation factor' which we will call A here, as A = p. p.m. element in. dry organism, p.p.m.…”

Copper(II)-mediated thermolysis of alginates: a model kinetic study on the influence of metal ions in the thermochemical processing of macroalgae

“…The work presented here aims to further the understanding of the impact of metals, widening the present studies on alginate thermolysis with alkali and alkaline earth metals to include dblock elements, which are found in some seaweed samples at concentrations many thousands of times higher than the surrounding seawater [45]. Studies to probe such effects are complex because, despite the passive nature of the biosorption process, macroalgae show preferences for certain metals above rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org Interface Focus 3: 20120046 others, with the relative affinities (shown in figure 2) having been determined for divalent metal species.…”