Effect of polluted water on soil and plant contamination by heavy metals in El-Mahla El-Kobra, Egypt

Abstract

Abstract. The discharge of untreated waste water in Zefta drain and drain no. 5 is becoming a problem for many farmers in the El-Mahla El-Kobra area, Egypt. The discharged water contains high levels of contaminants considered hazardous to the ecosystem. Some plants, soil, water, and sediment samples were collected from the El-Mahla El-Kobra area to evaluate the contamination by heavy metals. The results showed that the heavy metals, pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the water of Zefta drain and drain no. 5 exceeded permissible limits for irrigation. In rice and maize shoots grown in soils irrigated by contaminated water from Zefta drain and drain no. 5, the bioaccumulation factors for Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Mn were higher than 1.0. The heavy metals content of irrigated soils from Zefta drain and drain no. 5 exceeded the upper limit of background heavy metals. In this study, the mean contaminant factor values of the drain no. 5 sediments revealed that Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni > 6, indicating very high contamination. The bioaccumulation coefficient values of Cynodon dactylon, Phragmites australis, and Typha domingensis aquatic plants growing in Zefta drain are high. These species can be considered as hyperaccumulators for the decontamination of contaminated water.

Modeling soil cation exchange capacity in multiple countries

“…Research on CEC has been mainly descriptive, with CEC used as a parameter to characterize soils (Behera and Shukla, 2015;Mahmoud and Ghoneim, 2016). Soil CEC is highly affected by soil physical (e.g., soil texture), chemical (e.g., pH, mineralogy), and biological (e.g., OC) properties (Khaledian et al, 2016a); consequently, there is a strong and significant relationship between CEC and soil properties that are commonly analyzed.…”

Exogenous Nitric Oxide Mitigates Nickel-Induced Oxidative Damage in Eggplant by Upregulating Antioxidants, Osmolyte Metabolism, and Glyoxalase Systems

“…Recent studies have shown that due to lack of proper disposal and damping facility for industrial wastes the concentrations of several toxic heavy metals is increasing in soils of Egypt [22]. Eggplant is an important vegetable crop plant grown worldwide.…”

Bioaccumulation of Potentially Toxic Elements in Cereal and Legume Crops: A Review

“…Unfortunately, application of the untreated wastewater also results in the deposition of various PTEs and salts in soils over time . Thus, growing food/fodder crops on soils irrigated with the metal/metalloid‐contaminated wastewater can lead to bioaccumulation of toxic metals within plants and ultimately to human food chain .…”

“…[3] Unfortunately, application of the untreated wastewater also results in the deposition of various PTEs and salts in soils over time. [4][5][6][7] Thus, growing food/ fodder crops on soils irrigated with the metal/metalloidcontaminated wastewater can lead to bioaccumulation of toxic metals within plants and ultimately to human food chain. [8] The concentration of metal(loid)s in plant tissues and the quantity of plants consumed as food determines the levels in the human body and associated health risks.…”