Soil quality and health risk assessment of heavy metals in agricultural areas irrigated with wastewater from Kitchener Drain, Nile Delta, Egypt

Abstract

Kitchener drain is one of the largest drains in Nile Delta. It discharges water directly into Mediterranean Sea water affecting on the marine environment. Local population uses its water in irrigation and agriculture field along this drain. So it’s important to determine heavy metal content of agricultural soils used this water in irrigation process and assess the hazard and cancer risk on human health living in these areas. Six metals (Fe, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr and Co) in total and available form were determined in eight geo-referenced soil samples. The order of these metals in soil was as follow; Ni > Cr > Fe > Pb > Cd > Co. The order of these metals in the available form take the sequence of; Fe > Ni > Pb > Cr > Cd > Co. All mean concentrations of metals were exceeding the standard limits of EU, CSQG and AUEC except for cobalt. Mean values of enrichment factors of metals give an indication that the sources of these metals in the environment were from anthropogenic activities. PLI and DC showed considerable degree of contamination in sites 4 & 5. While it showed high degree of contamination in other sites. Hazard quotient from different exposure pathways namely; chemical daily intake (CDI), Dermal contact (DAD) and inhalation (ECinh) and hazard index calculations from metals within different sites were more than one, indicated that there is a chance of non-carcinogenic effects to occur. Also from these pathways, cancer risk (CR) was calculated, which exceed from dermal contact, followed by ingestion and finally from inhalation. Only CR of cobalt showed no risk in the study area when compared with other metals

Toxicity assessment of heavy metals and organochlorine pesticides in freshwater and marine environments, Rosetta area, Egypt using multiple approaches

“…The highest mean value was recorded at site 9. This is arisen from the agricultural activities due to the usage of superphosphate fertilizers which is in agreement with El-Alfy et al [25].…”

Contamination and risk assessment of heavy metals, and uranium of sediments in two watersheds in Abiete-Toko gold district, Southern Cameroon

“…In this study, mean concentrations of Pb are 5.86 and 5.98 mg/kg in the Kienké and Tchangué watersheds respectively. These concentrations are below the Average Shale (Turekian and Wedepohl, 1961), and lower than those reported for sediments of the Nile delta, Egypt (El-Alfy et al., 2017); Chenab River, Pakistan (Hanif et al., 2016); Ganga river, India (Sinha and Paul, 2015) and Simbock Lake in Mefou river, Cameroon (Bessa et al., 2018). The low range of Pb can be attributed to the incorporation of lead in the leaching of source rocks and agricultural soil through various types of pollutions (Alloway, 1990; Ekoa Bessa et al., 2018).…”

“…Lead is the most immobile element and its content in sediment is closely associated with clayminerals (El-Alfy et al., 2017). It can be the cause of many negative effects on humans such as anorexia, chronic nephropathy, damage to neurons, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, insomnia, learning deficits, reduced fertility, renal system damage, risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and shortened attention span.…”

Antioxidant System and Biomolecules Alteration in Pisum sativum under Heavy Metal Stress and Possible Alleviation by 5-Aminolevulinic Acid

“…Also, Ni stress has been reported to affect photosynthetic pigments, reduce plant biomass, enhance lipid peroxidation and proline content [12]. In the cultivated fields in Nile Delta, the average concentration of Cd and Ni in the soil are 292.25 mg kg −1 and 1403.36 mg kg −1 , respectively [13]. The concentration of Cd exceeds the standard limits.…”