Assessment of environmental and toxicity impacts and potential health hazards of heavy metals pollution of agricultural drainage adjacent to industrial zones in Egypt

Rasha S Ahmed; Mohamed E Abuarab; Mohamed M Ibrahim; Magdy Baioumy; Ali Mokhtar

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.137872

Assessment of environmental and toxicity impacts and potential health hazards of heavy metals pollution of agricultural drainage adjacent to industrial zones in Egypt

Chemosphere. 2023 Mar:318:137872. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.137872. Epub 2023 Jan 16.

Authors

Rasha S Ahmed¹, Mohamed E Abuarab², Mohamed M Ibrahim³, Magdy Baioumy⁴, Ali Mokhtar³

Affiliations

¹ Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, 12613, Giza, Egypt; Biosystems Engineering Research Department, Agriculture Engineering Research Institute, 12613, Giza, Egypt. Electronic address: rasha81sayed@hotmail.com.
² Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, 12613, Giza, Egypt. Electronic address: mohamed.aboarab@agr.cu.edu.eg.
³ Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, 12613, Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Biosystems Engineering Research Department, Agriculture Engineering Research Institute, 12613, Giza, Egypt.

PMID: 36657577
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.137872

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to assess the environmental impact of industrial wastewater disposal in the El-Khadrawiya agricultural drain, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt, as well as the effect on water, soil, and plant qualities in the drain's extension area, which was primarily adjacent to the industrial zone. The analyses results of wastewater at El-Khadrawiya drain revealed that heavy metal concentrations in water samples exceeded WHO permitted limits. Heavy metal levels followed the following pattern: (Pb > Zn > Cr > Cd > Ni > As), where Heavy metal levels average were: (1.8492 > 1.7857 > 0.1815 > 0.1578 > 0.059 > 0.0048. Wastewater, soil and plant samples were analyzed using (PerkinElmer AAnalyst 400 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer A Analyst 400), Heavy metal pollution evaluation indicators: Target hazard quotient (THQ), Hazard index (HI), Chronic daily intake (CDI), Carcinogenic risk (CR), and Heavy metals pollution index (HPI)) showed that a majority of samples discovered values referring to carcinogenic health risks for the population. In contrast, the soil contamination indices followed the same trend, with the contamination factor (CF) indicating that the majority of samples exposed low to medium levels of pollution for (Ni, Cd, and Zn), while Pb and Cr were between high and very high, and the contamination degree (Cd) and modified degree of contamination (mCd) indicating that the majority of samples revealed the medium level of pollution, with the exception of one site with a high level of contamination. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) revealed that heavy metal accumulation in plants exceeds the critical range. This study should be expanded to include additional agricultural regions with comparable conditions in order to provide environmental monitoring of present challenges and work toward solutions.

Keywords: Agricultural drainage; GIS; Human health risk assessment; Industrial zones; Soil contamination indices; Water quality indices.

MeSH terms

Cadmium / analysis
China
Egypt
Environmental Monitoring
Lead / analysis
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Metals, Heavy* / toxicity
Risk Assessment
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Wastewater
Water / analysis

Substances

Wastewater
Cadmium
Lead
Metals, Heavy
Soil
Water
Soil Pollutants