蓝绿藻中存在一种吸光蓝蛋白叫做蓝藻藻蓝蛋白 (C-PC)。由于其具有抗氧化、抗炎和抗癌的特性，这种蛋白质在医药和药物领域有很大的潜力。然而，蓝绿藻通常会与环境中的重金属结合，因此需要确保从自然采集的蓝绿藻生物质中分离的蓝藻藻蓝蛋白的安全性，以开发药物产品。本研究旨在确定2019年至2022年期间采集自维尔纳斯湖的不同蓝绿藻生物质中难以降解的重金属（砷、镉、汞和铅）在蓝藻藻蓝蛋白中的含量，并将其与人工培养的螺旋藻（S. platensis）中蓝藻藻蓝蛋白的重金属含量进行比较。2019年的生物质以不可见藍蛋白藻（A. flos-aquae）为主，而2020年和2022年的生物质以微囊藻属（Microcystis）为主。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱 (ICP-MS) 分析器进行了重金属的测定。ICP-MS分析结果显示，与以A. flos-aquae为主的生物质中的蓝藻藻蓝蛋白相比，以微囊藻为主的生物质中的蓝藻藻蓝蛋白具有较高水平的被研究的重金属（铅、镉和砷）。与从自然采集的蓝绿藻生物质中分离的蓝藻藻蓝蛋白相比，从人工培养的螺旋藻中分离的蓝藻藻蓝蛋白的砷和铅浓度较低。

Cyano-phycocyanin (C-PC) is a light-absorbing biliprotein found in cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae. Due to its antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties, this protein is a promising substance in medicine and pharmaceuticals. However, cyanobacteria tend to bind heavy metals from the environment, making it necessary to ensure the safety of C-PC for the development of pharmaceutical products, with C-PC isolated from naturally collected cyanobacterial biomass. This study aimed to determine the content of the most toxic heavy metals, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in C-PC isolated from different cyanobacterial biomasses collected in the Kaunas Lagoon during 2019-2022, and compare them with the content of heavy metals in C-PC isolated from cultivated Spirulina platensis (S. platensis). Cyanobacteria of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (A. flos-aquae) dominated the biomass collected in 2019, while the genus Microcystis dominated the biomasses collected in the years 2020 and 2022. Heavy metals were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). ICP-MS analysis revealed higher levels of the most investigated heavy metals (Pb, Cd, and As) in C-PC isolated from the biomass with the dominant Microcystis spp. compared to C-PC isolated from the biomass with the predominant A. flos-aquae. Meanwhile, C-PC isolated from cultivated S. platensis exhibited lower concentrations of As and Pb than C-PC isolated from naturally collected cyanobacterial biomass.