MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN BENTHIC ANIMALS AND PLANTS INHABITING THE GULF OF GDANSK, BALTIC SEA

Mercury concentrations were investigated on field collections of benthic animals (Gammarus sp., Macoma baltica, Mytilus edulis, Balanus improvisosus, Crangon crangon and Mesidothea entomon) and plants (Enteromorpha sp., Zostera marina, Pyloiella litoralis, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ruppia maritima, Cladophora rupestris, Ulva lactica and Elodea canadensis) taken in the western part of the Gulf of Gdansk and the adjacent waters in 1988-1989. The method of measurement was cold vapour flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. Some inter-species and spatial differences in mercury concentrations of zoobenthos could be observed, indicating both pollution from local land based nonpoint sources and higher accumulation in sedimentation areas. However, the mercury concentrations noted were relatively low and within the lowest values observed by other authors for the same species in other than the Gulf of Gdansk regions of the Baltic Sea.