Concentrations of cadmium,copper, lead and zinc in surface waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean — A comparison of Go-flo and teflon water samplers

The concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc were measured at two locations in surface waters of the western North Atlantic. Samples were collected upstream of the research vessel in 1-1 teflon bottles, and in a 30-1 teflon-coated Go-flo bottle. Surface mixed-layer samples were also collected at each location by ship cast using this same Go-flo sampler. A comparison of the three sampling modes shows that all the samples taken with the Go-flo sampler possessed much higher concentrations of zinc (7–10-fold) and lead (2–3-fold) than those collected directly in teflon bottles. No apparent differences were noted at each station in the concentrations of either copper or cadmium among the samples collected by the three different procedures. The measured values for copper and cadmium in these waters are in good agreement with recent reports for the western North Atlantic.