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Heavy metals fractionation and risk assessment in surface sediments of Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan Lakes, Egypt

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Abstract

This study establishes a baseline for trace metal speciation in Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan lakes. A five-step sequential extraction procedure was applied for the speciation of the Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu in sediment samples collected at Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan lakes. Mn and Cu were the most mobile metals, whereas the residue fraction maintained the highest concentrations of Zn and Fe (≈60 %). No significant differences in metal concentrations were detected in the sediments of each lake sites, despite of the large distance between them (P > 0.05). Hazardous discharge sources are responsible for the high accumulation of metals in the nonresidual fractions. Qarun Lake showed high mobility factor for all studied metals than Wadi El-Rayan lakes; as such, all the humans, plants, animals and the general biota within the vicinity of this aquatic system are quite vulnerable to the trace metal exposure. According to geoaccumulation index (I-geo), the studied sediments were practically uncontaminated by Fe and Mn and classified as uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with Cu in Qarun and Zn in Wadi El-Rayan lakes. The low values of load pollution index (<1), confirmed the unpolluted condition of the lakes’ superficial sediments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inland Water and Aquaculture Branch, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Cairo, Egypt

    Amaal Mansour Abdel-Satar & Mohamed E. Goher

  2. Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Hail University, Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Amaal Mansour Abdel-Satar

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  1. Amaal Mansour Abdel-Satar
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  2. Mohamed E. Goher
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Correspondence to Amaal Mansour Abdel-Satar.

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Abdel-Satar, A.M., Goher, M.E. Heavy metals fractionation and risk assessment in surface sediments of Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan Lakes, Egypt. Environ Monit Assess 187, 346 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4592-5

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