Impact of total phenolic compounds on ecological and health risks of water and sediments from Timsah Lake, Suez Canal, Egypt.

This study aimed to measure spatial and temporal distributions of total phenolic compounds and their ecological and health hazards using UV-vis spectrophotometers as a low-cost, fast, simple method in water and sediments collected from Timsah Lake, Suez Canal, Egypt, 2022. Also, assessing highly adaptive fungal species associated with contamination is designed. Due to human and environmental activities and industrial waste discharges, Timsah Lake is increasingly threatened by all kinds of pollutants. The results indicated that the seasonal concentration means of the phenolic compounds were winter (0.229) > spring (0.161) > summer (0.124) > autumn (0.131) mg/l and winter (3.08) > summer (2.66) mg/g in water and sediment samples, respectively. The result has shown that the phenol concentrations in all stations were more than 0.005 and 0.1 mg/l for Egyptian National Standards and World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water but less than the limits of 1 mg/l for wastewater. Notably, the fungi recorded the highest counts during spring, totaling 397 colonies/100 ml of water and 842 colonies/gram of sediment. Four isolates of fungi were identified and deposited in the GenBank database by Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus terreus, Penicillium roqueforti, and Penicillium rubens under accession numbers OR401933, OR402837, OR402878, and OR424729, respectively. Moreover, ecological risk (RQ) for the total phenolic compounds was > 1 in all investigated stations for water and sediments. The hazard quotient is HQ < 1 in all seasons in water and sediments except winter. The hazard index (HI) in water and sediments for children is higher than for adults. It can be concluded that the low-cost, fast, simple method for determining phenolic content in water and sediment samples, using UV-vis spectrophotometry, was useful for predicting the reactivates of a wide variety of phenol and their derivatives. Furthermore, it can be concluded that Periodic assessments of water quality and strict regulations are necessary to safeguard this vital resource from pollution and ensure the well-being of future generations. Finally, policymakers and water treatment specialists might use the information from this research to reduce these chemical pollutants in Egypt.

A comparative study of the risk assessment and heavy metal contamination of coastal sediments in the Red sea, Egypt, between the cities of El-Quseir and Safaga.

This study aimed to assess the influence of pollution on the quality of sediments and the risks associated with El-Qusier and Safaga Cities, Red Sea, Egypt, during 2021, divided into four sectors, using multiple pollution indices. To achieve that, we evaluated the metal pollution index (MPI), contamination factor (Cf), pollution load index (PLI), contamination security index (CSI), and anthropogenicity (Anp%). Moreover, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks are used for human health hazards. Results indicated that Mn and Fe recorded the highest concentrations, whereas Cd had the lowest. El-Quseir City sediments were found the following metal ions: Fe > Mn > Ni > Zn > Cu > Co > Pb > Cd, where the order in the Safaga City was: Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cu > Pb > Co > Cd. MPI > 1, this is alarming in the study area due to heavy metal pollution. In addition, Cf < 1 in all metals except Cd with contamination degree CD ranged from low to considerable contamination in El-Qusier city. In contrast, contamination ranged from significant to very high in Safaga city. PLI < 1 is lower than the reference at all monitored stations. CSI values ranged from relatively low to moderate. Besides Cd, data reflect each element's low environmental danger (EriMe40). This study's risk index (RI) is low to moderate in Sector 1 and high to extremely high in Sector 2. HQ and HI index < 1 means it is safe for human health in order: HI ingestion > HI dermal. CSR for different pathways was recorded as dermal > ingestion, in which total CSR for all paths is considered harmful, and the cancer risk is troublesome and higher than the reference ranges of 1 × 10-6-1 × 10-4. In conclusion, the examined heavy metals provide environmental hazards across the assessed locations.

Impact of some heavy metal accumulation in different organs on fish quality from Bardawil Lake and human health risks assessment.

Bardawil Lake is a unique aquatic ecosystem that provides a habitat for various fish and other marine organisms. This study aimed to analyze the quality of fish species to prove that this lake is free of pollution, not other Egyptian lakes, due to the accumulation of some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn) in various tissues of fish species that were caught from this lake. Thirty-five fish samples were caught during the Spring of 2018 from seven different species: Mugil cephalus, Liza auratus, Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, Siganus rivulatus, Anguilla angilla, and Solae solea. The Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods using a spectrophotometer determined the biochemical composition. In contrast, atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was employed to determine the heavy metals expressed by µg/g wet weight. Results exposed that the accumulation of essential micronutrient (Cu, Zn) content was higher than toxic elements (Cd & Pb) in muscles in order to Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. Muscles < gills < liver in order of all metals except Pb with order muscles < liver < gills. The metals studied in the muscles were lower than those set by the WHO and the EU standards. The carcinogenic risk with lower allowable limits of 1 × 10-6 to 1 × 10-4 in both normal and high consumption groups; target and total target hazard quotients (THQ & HI) in muscles were < 1. The biochemical composition level was highest in the liver, except for protein, which was highest in muscle for all fish species. There is no evidence of harmful contaminants in the muscular tissue of the fish sampled from Bardawil Lake, although fishing activity. However, customers should know that health concerns may be associated with overeating fish.

Bio-accumulation and health risk assessment of heavy metals in different edible fish species from Hurghada City, Red Sea, Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Heavy metal contamination has become a serious issue in this century especially detected in fish organs. Due to the presence of radioactive compounds in agricultural and sewage effluent, which destroys aquatic ecosystems, threatening human livelihoods. Health hazards associated with low and high consumption consumers assessed in five commercial fish species collected from Hurghada City, Egypt, during winter and summer, 2020. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer technique used for determination heavy meals in different organs and expressed as µg/g wet weight. RESULTS: Heavy metal concentrations in muscle ranged between:(0.054-0.109), (0.260-1.043), (0.264-0.897), (5.895-11.898), (0.381-0.970), (13.582-29.133) and (0.332-0.589) µg/g for Cd, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cu, Fe and Ni respectively, which were lower than those of gills and liver. These concentrations were within WHO, FAO/WHO, and EU standards. Consumption of edible species was lower than the (TDIs) established by the (JECFA) and Egyptian Standards. Even though THQ and TTHQ values were < 1 while, in children with highly consumer were> 1. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that intake of Red Sea fish is safe for human health. It is critical for consumers to be aware of the consequences of excessive fish consumption, particularly children with highly consumer, which represent possible health risks.