Concentrations of Metals in the Environment and in Algae: The Bioaccumulation Factor

Abstract

Research on the concentrations of the metals Cu, Cd, Fe, and Mn showed no significant relationships between metal concentrations in water and in brown algae of the Sea of Japan with background concentrations. A significant correlation between metal concentrations in the environment and in the algae was found for zinc; it was the only metal with a wide variation in concentrations exceeding background levels in the habitat of macrophytes. Correspondingly, the only significant correlation between the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of seaweeds from the Sea of Japan and the content of this element in seawater was found for zinc. It was shown for all studied metals that the highest and most variable BAF values for algae were observed within the background range of metal concentrations in the aquatic environment, which allows us to express the background range (the range caused by natural conditions) graphically. Thus, the high variability of the BAF values of aquatic organisms in the background environmental conditions necessitates very cautious interpretation of biomonitoring data.