Beta
372384

Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution in Recent Sediments of Qaroun Lake, Fayoum, Egypt.

Article

Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Environmental chemistry

Abstract

The saline continental Qaroun Lake is situated in the deepest part of the Fayoum mega depression (~2580 km2 size) within the Western Desert of Egypt. It covers an area of about 245 Km2 and descends 45 meters below sea level. The lake represents the lowest land in the Nile River floodplain and plays a crucial role as the ultimate stop for both natural (subsurface flow) and artificial (agricultural) drainage in the Fayoum Depression. Hence, it collects most industrial and agricultural wastes including heavy metals as well as fertilizer and pesticides wastes. With continuous evaporation, the concentrations of heavy metals increase, and environmental problems worsen in Lake Qaroun. Twenty-five samples were selected for chemical analysis by XRF.The main objective of the present study is to investigate the ecological risk of heavy metals pollution in the recent sediments of Qaroun Lake. For the environmental assessment of Lake Qaroun sediments, four pollution indicators including three single indices were employed: The Enrichment Factor (EF), Index of Geo-accumulation (IGeo), and Contamination Factor (CF), along with the integrated Pollution Load Index (PLI). The results revealed that the distribution of the measured heavy metals over the lake was found in the range of (0.55 – 7.72%), (227 – 1840 ppm), (43 – 174 ppm), (24 – 76 ppm), (18 – 42 ppm), (48 – 114 ppm), (31 – 94 ppm), (21 – 49 ppm), and (583 – 4944 ppm) for Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Rubidium (Rb), and Strontium (Sr); respectively. Another way combines indices like the degree of pollution (Cd), ecological risk factor (RI), and potential ecological risk index (RI). These indices are instrumental in assessing heavy metal contamination in sediment. All parts of Qaroun Lake show high contamination levels (Cd). The ecological risk factor (RI) indicates no contamination in most stations, except for one close to the polluted El-Wadi drain. Importantly, the potential ecological risk index (RI) is consistently low in all stations around Qaroun Lake, providing reassurance about the lake's current state.

DOI

10.21608/ejchem.2024.303404.9989

Keywords

Heavy metals, Qaroun Lake, Pollution indices

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Mahmoud

MiddleName

Gaber

Affiliation

Geology and Physics Department, Freshwater Division, National Institute of Oceanography and Fishers-Cairo

Email

mgaber96@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

0000000161262483

First Name

Salem Ghonamy

Last Name

Salem

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Cairo, Egypt

Email

salemghonamy_2007@yahoo.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Ibrahim

Last Name

Lotfy

MiddleName

Mohamed

Affiliation

Geology and Physics Department, Inland and Freshwater Branch, National Institute of Oceanography and Fishers, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

imhl_mgeo@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Maher

Last Name

Dawoud

MiddleName

Mohamed

Affiliation

Geology Dept. Faculty of Sciences Menoufiya University

Email

dawoud_99@yahoo.com

City

shebein el kom

Orcid

-

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Abu-Elhasan

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Menofia Governorate, Egypt.

Email

abouelhassanmohamed@gmail.com

City

Menofia

Orcid

-

First Name

Mai

Last Name

Elithy

MiddleName

Ahmed

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Menofia Governorate, Egypt

Email

maielleithy24@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Hanaa

Last Name

El-Dokouny

MiddleName

abdelnaby

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Menofia Governorate, Egypt

Email

hanaaabdelnaby4@gmai.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

67

Article Issue

10

Related Issue

49535

Issue Date

2024-10-01

Receive Date

2024-07-11

Publish Date

2024-10-01

Page Start

487

Page End

501

Print ISSN

0449-2285

Online ISSN

2357-0245

Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/article_372384.html

Detail API

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=372384

Order

372,384

Type

Original Article

Type Code

297

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Chemistry

Publication Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution in Recent Sediments of Qaroun Lake, Fayoum, Egypt.

Details

Type

Article

Created At

30 Dec 2024