Mercury, cadmium and lead evaluation in Posidonia oceanica and Codium tomentosum

The marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica and the alga Codium tomentosum were sampled from 31 stations along the Italian coast in summer 1986, and analysed for heavy metal content. P. oceanica occurred at all sampling points, but C. tomentosum was found only at 11 stations. Detection limits for analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 1991, Vol.22 (7), p.362-363
Main Authors: Costantini, Sergio, Giordano, Rosa, Ciaralli, Laura, Beccaloni, Eleonora
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Codium tomentosum
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Marine
Posidonia oceanica
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Summary:The marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica and the alga Codium tomentosum were sampled from 31 stations along the Italian coast in summer 1986, and analysed for heavy metal content. P. oceanica occurred at all sampling points, but C. tomentosum was found only at 11 stations. Detection limits for analysis of subsamples for mercury (by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry) and cadmium and lead (by stabilized temperature graphite atomic absorption spectrometry) were 3.8, 1.6 and 44 ug per kg fresh weight, respectively. Mercury levels were low for both species, sometimes approaching the detection limit. In Posidonia, cadmium and lead levels were similar, 0.81 plus or minus 0.32 mg per kg and 0.85 plus or minus 0.37 mg per kg, respectively, and there was a statistically significant correlation between them. Cadmium and lead levels in Codium from the same areas were statistically different from the values for Posidonia, which contained higher cadmium and lead concentrations in areas with greater anthropogenic inputs.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/0025-326X(91)90073-2