Mollusks are a prospective food for the world’s growing population, but the contents of toxic and essential trace elements in them have not been studied comprehensively. In this work, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, the contents of 72 elements in soft tissues of the edible mollusks Mytilus galloprovincialis, Rapana venosa, and Crassostrea gigas from the coastal area of the southwestern Crimea were estimated and compared with the maximum permissible levels. Element accumulation similarities were observed in the two bivalve species. Cluster analysis applied to the non-normalized contents allowed finding an optimal number of non-overlapping element clusters: 1 group of macroelements, 1–2 groups of trace elements, and 1–2 groups of ultratrace elements. As an outcome of this analysis, the element accumulation universality index was introduced, which demonstrated the accumulation universality decrease in the order: mussel > sea snail > oyster. An original approach to estimating the mollusk consumption rate was proposed to assess human health risks. Two possible consumption scenarios were identified for Crimean residents. From the expected consumption of all species in both scenarios, there are no health risks, but they are not excluded, within the 95% probability, from high consumption of mussels and sea snails in the pessimistic scenario.

Although the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis has been known for decades as an excellent bioindicator of trace element pollution in the marine environment, there is still no information on the effects of a suite of its principal morphometric parameters and age on trace element levels in soft tissues. In this work, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, we studied the contents of 72 elements in soft tissues of M. galloprovincialis aged 0.5–4, which were sampled at three stations within a relatively small water body, Sevastopol Bay. Significant effects of age and sampling location on the element contents and soft tissue dry-to-wet weight ratio were discovered. The effects of sex were not significant. It was presumed for the first time that the decrease in element content in the soft tissues of young mussels can be associated with the decrease in physiological needs for elevated contents of essential elements and intracellular water with age. Combinations of six principal morphometric parameters showed that a function of as few as three parameters (soft tissue dry weight, whole mollusk weight, and shell height, with by far the greatest contribution of the dry-to-total weight ratio) formed significant correlations with the contents of the largest possible number of elements (69–88% of the total number). For the first time, it was shown that linear discriminant analysis and canonical analysis of principal coordinates can be successfully used for tracing the exact origin of mussel samples within such a small water area. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates proved superior in the correct classification of the samples.

Brown algae are recognized as bioindicators of heavy metal contamination in coastal waters. Comparison of morphological and functional characteristics of algae living in different environmental conditions is essential for understanding mechanisms of marine organism adaptation to anthropogenic environmental impact. The aim of this study is to determinate concentration of fucoxanthin and heavy metals in branches of brown seaweeds Cystoseira barbata (Stackhouse) C. Agardh and Cystoseira crinita Duby in water areas with different anthropogenic pressures. The content of fucoxanthin in the samples is determined by means of thin layer chromatography, and heavy metals are quantified using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The maximum concentrations of fucoxanthin (3 mg·g-1 of dry weight), lead (48.5 μg·g-1), zinc (62.6 μg·g-1), and cadmium (3.2 μg·g-1) are found in branches of 2- to 3-month-old seaweeds. The content of fucoxanthin in the branches of C. barbata is 1.5 times higher than that in C. crinita. The Cystoseira seaweeds living in a eutrophic bay have higher concentrations of the pigment and zinc than the macrophytes from open waters. The elevated levels of fucoxanthin in brown algae of this genus found in eutrophic and heavy-metal-polluted water areas demonstrate the important role of this carotenoid in the adaptation of the algal photosynthetic apparatus to anthropogenic environmental changes.

Rare earth elements (REE) are a class of increasingly used high-tech product components and new emerging environmental pollutants, which are accumulated, in particular, in marine biota. In this study, REE contents were estimated in shells of several molluscs common in the Black Sea. The summed REE contents in mollusc shells decreased in the following order of species: Magallana gigas = Anadara kagoshimensis > Flexopecten glaber ponticus ≥ Rapana venosa > Mytilus galloprovincialis, ranging from 0.46 to 1.9 mg·kg⁻¹. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates allowed for the correct identification of species based on the REE composition in no fewer than 67% of the samples. The mollusc shells were anomalously enriched in Sc, Y, La, Eu and Tb, most likely due to anthropogenic contamination. The Y/Ho ratios in all samples were represented by two fit values: 23.2 (chondritic) and 67.6 (superchondritic, mainly associated with A. kagoshimensis). A new universal relationship linking the contents of three light and heavy REE in Black Sea mollusc shells was proposed: Ce^0.3 Er^0.7/Yb = 2.00 ± 0.46 (mean ± standard deviation).

Data on the abundance of petrogenic and trace elements (including rare earth elements) in the Quaternary deposits of Sevastopol Bay at the pre-technogenic