Concentration of arsenic and barium

Range arsenic 8,500: barium >10,000 mg/kg dry weight
Organism Sponge Theonella swinhoei
Reference Keren R, Lavy A, Mayzel B, Ilan M. Culturable associated-bacteria of the sponge Theonella swinhoei show tolerance to high arsenic concentrations. Front Microbiol. 2015 Feb 25 6: 154. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00154. p.1 right column bottom paragraphPubMed ID25762993
Primary Source Mayzel, B., Aizenberg, J., and Ilan, M. (2014). The elemental composition of demospongiae from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba. PLoS ONE 9:e95775. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095775PubMed ID24759635
Comments P.1 right column bottom paragraph: "Trace elements analyses of Red Sea sponges in the Gulf of Aqaba demonstrated that T. swinhoei is an accumulator of arsenic and barium (primary source). Arsenic concentration within T. swinhoei averaged 8500 mg/Kg (dry weight), compared to 0.003 mg/Kg in ambient seawater (personal Communication, Dr. Shaked, Head of National Monitoring program, Gulf of Aqaba). These concentrations are the highest ever recorded in an organism from an uncontaminated environment (Gibbs et al., 1983). Barium, linked to the sulfur cycle (Derry and Murray, 2004) and carbon cycle (González-Muñoz et al., 2003), was also found at extremely high concentrations in T. swinhoei, reaching over 10,000 mg/Kg (dry weight). Applying Principal Coordinates (PCO) analysis, it was shown that both elements are actively taken up by the sponge (primary source). T. swinhoei is thus an arsenic hyper-accumulating organism, similar to the fern Pteris vittata (Ma et al., 2001), and the polychaete Tharyx marioni (Gibbs et al., 1983)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 113273