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vol-9AN EGYPTIAN-UNITED STATES PROJECT FOR THE STUDY OF POLLUTION
IN SALINE WATERS OF EGYPTl
Gerald E. Walsh
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Gulf Breeze, Florida, USA
“This paper describes a joint Egyptian-United States research
project on pollution of the saline waters of Egypt. The project,
which began in 1977 and wi” continue into 1983, conducts studies in
tne saline laKes and Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, Faiyum Governorate,
and the northwestern Red Sea near Al-Ghardaqa. Each area has unique
problems of pollution, but all studies address physical, chemical,
and biological aspects of the environment, detection and quantitation
of pollution in natural systems, and use of toxicity tests on algae
and animals to evaluate pollution potential from municipal and industrial wastes (Alexandria), pesticides (Faiyum), and oil (Al Ghardaqa). Although the purpose of the studies is to evaluate pollution effects in Egypt, data and descriptive and predictive models
derived from them should be of value in similar geographical areas.”
Introduction
Within recent years, the saline waters of Egypt have become polluted by a
variety of substances, wnich include industrial and municipal wastes, heavy metals, agricultural chemicals, and oil. Although pollution has been occurring
in the Mediterranean and Red seas and in saline inland waters, there have not
been any extensive systematic studies to identify pollutants and their concentrations and effects until recently.
In 1977, the governments of Egypt and the United States began a joint research project on pollution of the sal ine waters of Egypt. The research,
funded through the U.S. Special Currency Program (P.L. 480) and admi ni stered
through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, addresses pollution problems
of interest to both nations. Research by scientists of the Egyptian Academy of
Scientific Research and Technology, Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, in
laboratories at Alexandria, the Faiyum Governorate, and Al-Ghardaqa is part of
an integrated program of field and laboratory studies that address both basic
and applied research in biology and environmental chemistry. Chemical analyses
for pollutants in water, sediment, and marine organisms are conducted at a
central laboratory in Cairo, and chemical and biological data are stored in and
analyzed with computers at the laboratory in Alexandria.
