Trace element content in marine algae species from the Black Sea, Turkey

Trace element content of marine algae species collected from the Black Sea coasts were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy after microwave digestion. Trace element content in marine algae species were 1.70-17.1 microg/g for copper, 3.64-64.8 microg/g for zinc, 9.98-285 microg/g for manganese, 99-3,949 microg/g for iron, 0.50-11.6 microg/g for chromium, 0.27-36.2 microg/g for nickel, 11-694 microg/kg for selenium, 0.50-44.6 microg/kg for cadmium, 1.54-3,969 microg/kg for lead, 1.56-81.9 microg/kg for cobalt. While iron was the highest trace element concentration, cadmium was the lowest in samples. Most of the analyzed samples were edible. The samples are consumed for human diet in several countries.