Risks Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements’ Contamination in the Egyptian Red Sea Surficial Sediments

Hassan I. Farhat, Ahmed Gad, Ahmed Saleh () and Sahar M. Abd El Bakey
Additional contact information
Hassan I. Farhat: Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, El Salam City 43518, Egypt
Ahmed Gad: Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt
Ahmed Saleh: National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), Cairo 11421, Egypt
Sahar M. Abd El Bakey: Department of Biological and Geological Sciences, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11341, Egypt

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: The potential impact of tourism, industrial, and urban activities on Egypt’s Red Sea coastline, which is well-known for its economic and environmental importance, was investigated at fifteen coastal sites. In the present study, the concentration of cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in marine sediments from these sites, was determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometers (ICP-MS). In detail, various pollution indices, statistical analyses, and spatial distribution patterns were used to assess the pollution status, impacts of human activities, ecological risks, and sources of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in surface marine sediment. A detailed comparison with up-to-date data was conducted. These sediments were composed predominantly of fine and very fine sands. Mean grain size distribution typically depends on the source of the sediment from the following two prime sources: terrigenous (autochthonous) and biogenic (allochthonous). The detected PTE mean concentrations were as follows: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Co > Cu > Cd. Multivariate statistical analysis results revealed their close distribution and association. Cd and Pb levels in the studied area have been slightly impacted by anthropogenic inputs. According to the calculated pollution indices, although a minimal or moderate contamination degree was detected in the study area, it was determined that there was a low to moderate ecological risk. The slightly high degree of contamination and risk centered in the middle of the study area around phosphate mining and related activities. More attention should be given to the concentrations and sources of Cd, Ni, and Pb as the main pollution factors.

Keywords: potentially toxic elements; marine sediment; environmental indices; statistical analysis; Red Sea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/9/1560/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/9/1560/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:1560-:d:914569

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().