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Marine organisms were tested as possible biomonitors of heavy metal contamination in Ustica (island of the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea). The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn were measured in the phanerogam Posidonia oceanica L. Delile, the two brown algae Padinapavonica (L.) Thivy and Cystoseira sp., and the two gastropod molluscs Monodonta turbinata Born and Patella caerulea L. collected at five coastal stations on the island of Ustica. The biomonitors examined showed a high ability to accumulate metals, with concentration factors higher than with respect to the concentration (soluble fraction) in marine waters. The data from this study were also compared with those previously obtained from uncontaminated sites in the Sicilian sea (Favignana island, Italy) and those obtained from the area of the Gulf of Gaeta (Tyrrhenian Sea, central Italy). Results clearly show the diversity between these three marine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work underlines the importance of the statistical procedures necessary for the significant assessment of analytical data of heavy metals derived from marine organisms (biomonitors) collected at five stations in Ustica at the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The statistical method described indicates that, where the differences among the averages of Pb, Cu and Zn concentrations in the molluscs of the sites analysed tested with ANOVA are significant, it is necessary to conduct multiple comparison tests in order to determine which average is significantly different from the other. Using the method described, it is possible to indicate which site or sites is/are more contaminated in comparison with the other sites. This way it is possible to make a preliminary evaluation of the basal levels of trace metals present in the reference marine ecosystem under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]