Trace metal contents in Enteromorpha and Sargassum from South Yellow Sea, China

In this research, the contents of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn in Enteromorpha and Sargassum were determined by the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES).The accumulation coefficients of the metals were compared, and the principal component analysis was performed.The results indicated that the average contents of trace metals in Enteromorpha followed the order:Zn > Cu ≈ Mn > As > Cr > Cd > Pb, while in Sargassum they followed the order:As > Zn > Cu > Mn > Cd > Cr > Pb.The accumulation coefficients in Enteromorpha followed the order:Cu > Cr ≈ Cd > Zn > Mn > As > Pb, while in Sargassum they followed the order:As > Cd > Cu > Zn > Cr > Pb ≈ Mn.The recoveries of target metals in the two certified reference materials used in this research, i.e.Porphyra and Spirulina, were 81.95%~108.75% and 81.43%~109.74%, respectively; the results of spike recovery test on the two reference materials were 87.88%~104.76% and 86.11%~112.29% respectively.The linear correlation coefficients of the standard working curves were all greater than 0.999.The method has high sensitivity and is easy to operate, which is suitable for detecting the contents of trace metals in algae.