Assessment of heavy metals contamination of sediments and surface waters of Bitter lake, Suez Canal, Egypt: Ecological risks and human health

The concentrations of heavy metals in the surface waters and sediments of Bitter Lake were investigated to assess the level, distribution, and source of pollution and the associated ecological and human health risks. The ecological indices of the lake water indicate low contamination degrees by heavy metals. A dermal exposurebased health risk evaluation revealed no carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic impact on human health. The contamination factor (CF) for Cu, Ni, Pb, Mn, Fe, and Zn (CF < 1) indicate low contamination levels, while Cd reaches very high contamination in most sediment sites (CF ranges from 6.2 to 72.4). Furthermore, the potential ecological risk factor (Eri) and modified hazard quotient (mHQ) indicate low ecological risk for all metals except Cd, revealing high to very high-level ecological risk in most sites (Eri ranges from 185 to 2173 and mHQ from 1.8 to 6.3). This emphasizes the urgency of prompt actions to improve the environment in Bitter Lake.

Automated summary

The concentrations of heavy metals in Bitter Lake were investigated to assess pollution levels, sources, and associated risks. The ecological indices and health risk evaluations indicate low contamination levels for most metals, except for Cd, which shows high contamination in sediment sites. This highlights the need for prompt actions to improve the environment in Bitter Lake.