Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Cladophora fracta and Chaetomorpha ligustica Species

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 70 - 78

Öznur Yazılan Çamlık , Ergün Taşkın

https://doi.org/10.63039/medfar.1478935

Abstract

Besides playing a crucial ecological role, certain types of algae have also become significant indicators of chemical pollutants. In this research, marine algae were examined to evaluate their suitability as biomonitoring instruments for detecting heavy metal pollution in coastal regions. The levels of cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were assessed in two types of green algae: Cladophora fracta and Chaetomorpha ligustica, which were both gathered from the same natural habitat. Samples were collected from the coast of Bostanlı, Izmir (Aegean Sea, Turkey) in August 2023. The collected samples were first subjected to morphological species identification. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectro-metry (ICP-MS) analysis was used to measure the accumulated concentrations of heavy metals (Zn Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd) of the separated species. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that the accumulation of heavy metals was higher in Cladophora fracta compared to Chaetomorpha ligustica. Both species have particularly high accumulation potentials for Zn in their tissues. The heavy metal accumulation concentrations for both species are as follows, respectively: Zn > Ni > Cu > Pb > Cd.

Keywords

Heavy metal, Aegean Sea, pollution, green algae

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

121Y215

Thanks

This study is supported by TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye) under grant number 121Y215.

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