Geochemical Baseline and Pre-Mining Environmental Assessment of Heavy Metals at Iron Exploration Area, Northeastern Aswan, Egypt

Abstract

Wadi Abu Subeira area contains many farms and houses and is one of the promising areas for iron mining. Therefore, 21 surface soil samples were collected and investigated for toxic heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, and As) using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) to establish a geochemical baseline for these metals during pre-mining conditions. To decipher the sources of these metals and their interrelationships, multivariate statistical analysis was applied, while to evaluate the degree of pollution and potential environmental risks the environmental indices were used. Abundances of Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, and As fluctuated from 17.72 to 0.06, 47.12 to 10.86, 47.88 to 9.25, 45.04 to 6.23, 51.93 to 17.82, 10.55 to 1.24, and 7.04 to 1.66 mg/kg, respectively, displaying a declining trend of Zn > Cr > Ni > Cu > As > Co > Pb. Additionally, the mean concentrations of all studied metals were found to be significantly lower than the selected international reference standards. Pearson correlation coefficient, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis revealed two geogenic geochemical associations for the studied toxic elements: (1) Zn-As-Ni-Cr-Cu-Co; and (2) Pb. Negative Igeo values were observed for all metals, which showed that the samples were uncontaminated and can be considered a geochemical baseline for the study area. Moreover, all CF values were lower than or close to 1, suggesting low contamination levels from all studied metals and supporting the association with natural geological processes. Similarly, Er and RI values of all metals were below 40 and 150, respectively, indicating a low-risk environment. Ultimately, the obtained levels of the studied metals can be used as a geochemical baseline for tracking the future changes in their accumulations in soil sediments considering the current assessment of the area as an environmentally safe area.

Distribution, speciation, and assessment of heavy metals in sediments from Wadi Asal, Red Sea, Egypt

“…4 ). Cr, Ni, and Co (factor 2) have strong negative loading (accounted for 17.23% of the total variance) belong to one group that reflect the same geogenic sources from the chemical weathering of complex basement rocks such as serpentinites, talc-carbonates, and metasediments (Abdalla & Khalifa, 2013 ; El-Shater, 1985 ; Harraz et al, 2012 ; Mostafa et al, 2023 ; Wedepohl, 1978 ). Cu (factor 3, account for 13.21% of the total variance) is negatively correlated with other ions, does appear to be related to a particular bed-rock type that represent the lithological background of the drainage system (Harraz et al, 2012 ; Redwan & Rammlmair, 2017 ), and shows a low negative relationship with Cd, Pb, and Zn (− 0.64, − 0.69, and − 0.72 for Co and − 0.21, − 0.24, and − 0.27 for Cu).…”

Source identification, pollution status, and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals contamination in a highly populated unplanned industrial area (Wadi El-Qamar), Alexandria, Egypt

“…Class 6: Extremely contaminated > 6 Class 4: Very high contamination Er (Guo et al, 2010;Hakanson, 1980) RI (Hakanson, 1980;Mostafa et al, 2023)…”

“…The statistical analyses were applied widely to discriminate the sources of HMs (e.g., (Mostafa et al, 2023;Said et al, 2021). The correlation between Zn and Cu was the strongest (r = 0.915), reflecting their mutual dependencies and common origin (traffic emissions) (Table 6).…”

Central Nile Valley agriculture soil content and distribution of rare earth elements (REEs), Egypt

“…As, it was found high concentrations of these elements in Egyptian phosphate ores (Abou El-Anwar et al 2019b). Pollution indices were applied widely to study the enrichment of elements in soil and sediment to discriminate element source and adverse environmental impact (Abou El-Anwar et al 2021;Elnazer and Salman 2021;Mostafa et al 2023). The current study aims to investigate the occurrence of REEs in Agricultural soil in Assiut Governorate, discriminate their spatial distribution, source and enrichment degree.…”