Scavenging of select radionuclides and trace elements by pelagic Sargassum in the Caribbean Sea

Bam, Wokil; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Maiti, Kanchan; Vassileva, Emiliya; Orani, Anna Maria; Blinova, Oxana; McGinnity, Paul; Adhikari, Puspa L.; Haughton, Milton; Webber, Mona

Scavenging of select radionuclides and trace elements by pelagic Sargassum in the Caribbean Sea

2022

In recent years, the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea have experienced unusual and unprecedented pelagic Sargassum blooms, which may adversely affect coastal ecosystems and productive ocean. Sargassum has the potential to scavenge trace elements and radionuclides from seawater, and when bioaccumulated and thus concentrated, can pose a potential threat to higher trophic organisms, including humans that consume impacted seafood. In this study, trace elements and naturally-occurring U/Th-series radionuclides were measured in Sargassum that were collected in the coastal waters of the Caribbean Sea (Antigua/Barbuda, Belize, and Barbados) to better define baseline concentrations and activities, and to assess the scavenging potential for these trace elements and radionuclides. The mean concentration of trace elements observed in Sargassum collected across these three Caribbean Sea are ranked accordingly to the following descending order: Sr > As>Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > V > C > Cd > Se > Co > Cr > Pb > Ag > Hg. 210-Po and ²¹⁰Pb activities in Sargassum were observed to be more elevated than previously reported values.

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