Fig 1.
Sampling locations in Greenland with coordinates in decimal degrees (latitude, longitude).
For Sarfannguit, coordinates are given for one central location (fish factory), specific coordinates for all three sampling sites are provided in Table 1.
Table 1.
Summary of Greenland seaweed samples included in the study.
Coordinates in decimal degrees.
Fig 2.
Diagram showing the individually examined algal thallus parts of Greenland seaweeds: A. clathratum, A. esculenta, L. solidungula, S. latissima, and S. longicruris.
Table 2.
Median content ± median absolute deviation of elements in Greenland seaweed samples, freeze dried weight.
Fig 3.
Principal component analysis of element content on family level of Greenland seaweeds.
Agaraceae (A. clathratum), Alariaceae (A. esculenta), Fucaceae (A. nodosum, F. distichus, F. vesiculosus and Fucus spp.), Laminariaceae (H. nigripes, L. solidungula, S. latissima and S. longicruris) and Palminariales (P. palmata). Hg and Se were excluded from the analysis due to the low number of quantifiable samples. Ellipses denote 95% confidence intervals for Alariaceae, Fucaceae and Laminariaceae.
Fig 4.
Concentrations of elements (As, Cd, I, Fe, K and Pb) in different thallus parts of Greenland seaweeds for A. clathratum, A. esculenta, L. solidungula, S. latissima and S. longicruris.
The lower and upper hinges of the box represent the first and third quartile, around the median; the whiskers extend no further from the hinge than 1.5 * inter-quartile range. Outliers beyond the whiskers are shown as circles.
Fig 5.
Principal component analysis of element content of Greenland seaweeds depending on geographic location.
All samples of F. distichus, F. vesiculosus and Fucus spp. were used in a pooled investigation. Hg and Se were excluded from the analysis due to the low number of quantifiable samples. Ellipses denote locations with at least three samples.
Fig 6.
Matrix of element correlations for Greenland seaweeds, expressed as Kendall’s tau coefficient.
Elements are ordered alphabetically for ease of reading. Hg and Se were excluded from the analysis due to the low number of quantifiable samples. Only statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) are shown.
Table 3.
Current European and Nordic guidelines on recommended daily intake levels, upper daily intake levels, maximum levels in the EU and France and toxicological guideline values for the elements investigated.
Table 4.
Calculated median element content for a single-seaweed salad of 33 g wet weight, prepared from Greenland seaweed.
Where applicable, percentage of recommended daily intake is indicated in parentheses. Elements exceeding recommended upper intake levels are marked in bold font.