Assessing the ecological and health risks associated with heavy metal pollution levels in sediments of Big Giftun and Abu Minqar Islands, East Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Ahmed Abdelaal; El Saeed R Lasheen; Abbas M Mansour; Ahmed W Mohamed; Mohamed R Osman; Farrage M Khaleal; Mohamed A Tahoon; Bandar A Al-Mur

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115930

Assessing the ecological and health risks associated with heavy metal pollution levels in sediments of Big Giftun and Abu Minqar Islands, East Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 Jan:198:115930. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115930. Epub 2023 Dec 14.

Authors

Ahmed Abdelaal¹, El Saeed R Lasheen², Abbas M Mansour³, Ahmed W Mohamed⁴, Mohamed R Osman³, Farrage M Khaleal⁵, Mohamed A Tahoon⁶, Bandar A Al-Mur⁷

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said 42522, Egypt. Electronic address: ahmed_abdelaal@sci.psu.edu.eg.
² Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, P.O. 11884, Cairo, Egypt.
³ Geology Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, 83511 Qena, Egypt.
⁴ National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Hurghada Research Station, Red Sea Branch, 84511, Egypt.
⁵ Nuclear Materials Authority, P. O. Box 530, El-Maadi, Cairo, Egypt.
⁶ Wadi El Gemal National Park, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, 84721, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Environment, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 38101059
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115930

Abstract

This study assessed pollution levels, ecological and health risk, and spatial distribution of eight heavy metals in sediments of Big Giftun and Abu Minqar Islands, Red Sea, Egypt. Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) had the highest contents in both island sediments, while cobalt (Co) in Big Giftun and cadmium (Cd) in Abu Mingar had the lowest values. The obtained PCA data exhibited positively significant loadings of Cd, Co, copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) with 51.03 % of data variance in Big Giftun, and lead (Pb), Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Fe (37.7 %) in Abu Minqar sediments. The contamination factor (CF) showed low contamination for all metals, except cadmium; Cd (moderate). The geo-accumulation index (I_geo) values showed uncontaminated (Cd, Co), moderately (Cu), extremely contaminated (Fe, Mn) (I_geo > 5) in Big Giftun, and uncontaminated (Cd), moderately to strongly contaminated (Cu, Ni), and extremely contaminated (Fe, Mn, and Zn) in Abu Minqar sediments. The pollution load index (PLI) values indicated baseline level of contamination (PLI <1), and degree of contamination (DC) indicated low degree of contamination (DC < n) in all sediments. Nemerow pollution index (NPI) showed unpolluted sediments in Abu Minqar (NPI ≤1) and slight pollution (1 < NPI ≤2) in Big Giftun. Cd showed moderate potential ecological risk (40 ≤ Erⁱ < 80) in Big Giftun sediments. Potential ecological risk index (PERI) indicated low risk sediments (PERI <150). Mean effects range median quotient (MERMQ) indicated low-priority risk of toxicity (MERMQ ≤0.1), and toxic risk index (TRI) showed no toxic risk in all sediments (TRI <5). The modified hazard quotient (mHQ) indicated very low severity of contamination (mHQ <0.5). The hazard quotient (HQ) levels of all metals were below the safe value (HQ <1). The hazard index (HI) levels indicated that no chronic risks occur (HI <1). The total cancer risk (TCR) for all metals were below the safe level (1 × 10^-4) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) guidelines.

Keywords: Heavy metals; Red Sea Islands; Risk assessment; Sediment; Spatial distribution.

MeSH terms

Cadmium
Cobalt
Egypt
Environmental Monitoring
Geologic Sediments
Indian Ocean
Manganese
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Nickel
Risk Assessment
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Zinc

Substances

Cadmium
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Metals, Heavy
Manganese
Zinc
Cobalt
Nickel