Heavy metals in Ulva lactuca collected within Tolo Harbour, an almost landlocked sea

The sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca), a littoral and sublittoral marine macroalga grows abundantly around shorewaters of Hong Kong, especially Tolo Harbour where U.lactuca is collected from the mudflat for local human consumption as well as for export. Samples of U.lactuca, together with the ambient seawater and sediment, were collected from several localities around Tolo Harbour, an almost land-locked sea, receiving polluted water from several major streams. For comparison samples were also collected from areas near the unpolluted south coast of Hong Kong Island. It was demonstrated that the samples of seawater and sediment collected within Tolo Harbour were polluted from domestic, agricultural and industrial sources. The extent of the metal (copper, lead, zinc and iron) contamination was further reflected and amplified in the tissue of U.lactuca. Copyright © 1982 Netherlands Hydrobiological Society.