Heavy metal concentrations in marine green, brown, and red seaweeds from coastal waters of Yemen, the Gulf of Aden

The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration levels of heavy metals in different species of the main three marine algal divisions from the Gulf of Aden coastal waters, Yemen. The divisions included Chlorophyta-green plants (Halimeda tuna, Rhizoclonium kochiamum, Caldophora koiei, Enteromorpha compressa, and Caulerpa racemosa species), Phaeophyta-brown seaweeds (Padina boryana, Turbinaria elatensis, Sargassum binderi, Cystoseira myrica, and Sargassum boveanum species), and Rhodophyta-red seaweeds (Hypnea cornuta, Champia parvula, Galaxaura marginate, Laurencia paniculata, Gracilaria foliifere, and species). The heavy metals, which included cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), Iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and vanadium (V) were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAs). The concentrations of heavy metals in all algal species are in the order of Fe >> Cu > Mn > Cr > Zn > Ni > Pb > Cd > V > Co. The results also showed that the uptake of heavy metals by different marine algal divisions was in the order of Chlorophyta > Phaeophyta > Rhodophyta. These heavy metals were several order of magnitude higher than the concentrations of the same metals in seawater. This indicates that marine alga progressively uptake heavy metals from seawater.