DISTRIBUTION AND BEHAVIOR OF SELECTED HEAVY-METALS AND OTHER ELEMENTSIN VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE SOUTHERN BALTIC ECOSYSTEM

The concentrations and discrimination of selected heavy metals in biot a from the southern Baltic indicate that a large group of the Baltic o rganisms bioaccumulates Fe and Pb but discriminates against U. There a ppears to be no significant transfer of heavy metals along successive levels of the food chain. The distribution of the heavy metals in the associated sediments is a result of the anthropogenic input of Zn, Pb, Cd, Ag, P and Cu. It is suggested that Pb is introduced to the Polish sector of the Baltic Sea mainly by atmospheric transport whereas othe r heavy-metal pollutants are introduced mainly from the Vistula River. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.