Heavy metal content of Sargassum poly cystum C. Aghard from Talin Bay

The study determined the heavy metal concentration of cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper in the sediment, in the water and in the tissue of Sargassum polycystum collected from Talin Bay, Lian Batangas. The concentration of the four trace elements were determined with the use of the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The level of cadmium in the water ranged from O.000-0.007 mg/L. The sediment showed to have concentrated the greatest amount of cadmium of the three parameters measured with a range of 0.045-10.29 mg/L. The level of lead gradually decreased from the water (range of 1.064 - 5.171 mg/L), to the sediment (range of 1.19-2.04 mg/L) and finally to the plant tissue of Sargassum polycystum with a range of 0.915-1.940 mg/L. Sargassum polycystum seemed to have the greatest affinity with copper than with the three other metals with a range of 4.045-16.69 mg/L. Zinc, on the other hand, showed variations in the concentration of the metal in the sediment and in the plant tissue. Ranges of zinc varied from 0.30 - metal in the sediment and in the plant tissue. Ranges of zinc varied from 0.30 - 16.695 mg/L