ASSESSMENT OF THE HEAVY METALS POLLUTION IN WATER, SEDIMENTS AND WATER HYACINTH PLANT IN THE RIVER NILE

The purpose of this study is to gather the information on the
aquatic ecosystem of the River Nile at El -Qanater El Khayreyya
region,El-Qalyubia governorate and El-Mariotya canal, El-Giza
governorate and to investigate the effectiveness of water hyacinth as
adsorbent to remove some heavy metals from water. Also, the heavy
metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn) in water, sediment and water hyacinth
plant samples was determined using atomic absorption
spectrophotometry.
The heavy metal levels in water samples ranged between
(0.945±0.214 to 3.025±0.210 μg/L) for cadmium, while, copper levels
were from (8.296±1.692 to 20.529±2.135 μg/L). Also, concentration
of iron ranged (150.94±1.682 to 412.84±2.376 μg/L), while the
concentrations of lead were (0.922±0.185 to 4.365±0.458 μg/L) and
zinc concentrations ranged between (3.979±0.264 to 7.057±0.500
μg/L) in El-Marutia canal and El-Qanater El-Khayreya region during
all seasons.
Also, the heavy metal levels in sediment samples ranged
between (11.18±0.98 to 18.19±1.57 μg/g) for Cd and varied between
(10.58±2.18 to 52.2±3.64 μg/g) for Cu. While, iron concentration
varied from (207.11±3.99 to 700.4±4.32 μg/g). On the other hand, Pb
ASSESSMENT OF THE HEAVY METALS POLLUTION IN370
concentrations ranged between (7.08±1.95 to 24.28±2.31 μg/g) and Zn
levels was ranged between (23.54±3.85 a to 74.52±2.09 μg/g) during
all seasons in El-Marutia canal and El-Qanater region.
The range of cadmium in water hyacinth plant was between
(12.94±2.34 to 29.83±0.69 μg/g), (8.82±1.25 to 16.73±2.05 μg/g) and
(1.78±2.82 to 10.28±2.01 μg/g) for root, and leaves samples,
respectively during all seasons in El-Marutia canal and El-Qanater El-
Khayreya region. While Cu concentrations were (22.22±2.61 to
71.93±1.59 μg/g), (15.97±3.54 to 50.45±4.19 μg/g) and (13.73±3.47
to 45.40±1.4 μg/g) for root, and leaves samples, respectively during
all seasons in El-Marutia canal and El-Qanater El-Khayreya region.
Concentrations of Fe in roots, shoots and leaves samples were ranged
from (96.7±4.06 to 185.31±1.5 μg/g), (85.26±3.5 to 115.13±1.4 μg/g)
and (74.88±5.0 to 108.7±3.4 μg/g), respectively. Also, lead
concentrations in roots, shoots and leaves samples were ranged from
(6.22±6.24 to 13.51±0.96 μg/g), (4.22±2.57 to 11.49±5.08 μg/g) and
(2.1±2.06 to 7.17±2.39 μg/g), respectively, while Zn concentrations
were (6.98±3.25 to 18.30±3.31 μg/g), (3.95±4.69 to 13.03±2.17 μg/g)
and (2.49±6.21 to 6.65±3.58 μg/g) for roots, shoots and leaves
samples, respectively