| Abstract: | In July and August of 1977, samples of Halimeda tuna (Ellis & Solander) Lamouroux, Calpomenia sinuosa (Mertens & Roth) Derbes & Solier, and Pterocladia pinnata (Hudson) Papenfuss were collected along the coast of Ras Beirut, Lebanon and analyzed for lead, cadmium, copper, nickel and iron. The metal concentrations were quite similar in all three algae, except for iron, which was markedly higher in C. sinuosa, and lead, which was considerably lower in P. pinnata than in the other two species. These metal levels, particularly of lead, copper, and nickel seem to be rather high and may, in part, be due to untreated domestic sewage, industrial effluent, automobile exhaust, and outdoor incineration.Because little is known about the uptake, retention, use and tolerance of heavy metals by marine algae, more work in this field of study is needed. |
