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

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

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113658

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

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jun:179:113658. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113658. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ International Atomic Energy Agency, 4 Quai Antoine 1er, 98000 Monaco, Monaco; Department Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA; Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. Electronic address: wokil.bam@whoi.edu.
² International Atomic Energy Agency, 4 Quai Antoine 1er, 98000 Monaco, Monaco. Electronic address: pswarzen@gmail.com.
³ Department Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
⁴ International Atomic Energy Agency, 4 Quai Antoine 1er, 98000 Monaco, Monaco.
⁵ Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, The Water School, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA.
⁶ Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, Belize City, Belize.
⁷ Center for Marine Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

PMID: 35453061
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113658

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Caribbean Sea; Polonium; Radionuclides; Sargassum; Trace elements.

MeSH terms

Caribbean Region
Ecosystem
Humans
Lead
Radioisotopes
Sargassum*
Trace Elements* / analysis

Substances

Radioisotopes
Trace Elements
Lead