Comparison of techniques for the removal of particulate material from seaweed tissue

Eight techniques for cleaning paniculate material and epibionts from the tissue of Fucus vesiculosus were tested on seaweed collected from a metal-contaminated estuary in the southwest of England. When assessed by scanning electron microscopy, only one was found to have efficiently removed the paniculate material on the tissue. This technique consisted of applying a 1:9 ethanol:seawater mixture to the surface of the thallus, and scraping with a PTFE spatula. Analysis of Cu, As, Fe, Mn, and Zn content in the tissues cleaned by this technique showed that, in this case, only Fe concentrations decreased significantly when compared to tissue cleaned by rinsing in seawater only. The study is the first to systematically assess cleaning techniques for marine macroalgae and illustrates the need for standard methods for the sampling and analysis of seaweed tissue.