CONCENTRATION OF NINE HEAVY METALS IN SUEZ CANAL WATERS, EGYPT

CONCENTRATION OF NINE HEAVY METALS IN SUEZ
CANAL WATERS, EGYPT
EL-MOSELHY, KH. M.*; EL SAMRA, M. I. and ABD EL-AZIM, H.
National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Suez, Egypt
Keywords: Dissolved and particulate heavy metals; water; Suez Canal; Lake Timsah;
Bitter lakes; Suez Bay; Egypt.
ABSTRACT
The concentration of nine heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Co, Fe and Mn) in
waters of the Suez Canal and in the nearby waters was measured seasonally during 1997 –
1998 in their dissolved (D) and particulate (P) forms. The results revealed that the northern
part of the canal (at Port Said) recorded higher concentrations for most metals than those in
the other parts along the canal. The metals exhibited clear differences in the distribution of
their P and D forms. All the time, the P form was the dominant form, except in summer.
Some metals, such as Cu (67.6 and 53.4 %) and Cd (68.6 and 71.4 %), showed high D form
than those P one in the surface and bottom waters. This could be attributed to mobilization
of metal ions from bottom sediments (under low oxygen content) or due to mineralization
process as for Cd, Cr and Zn. Statistically, of course the p and D forms showed stronger
positive significant correlation with total. In the mean time, Fe and Cr showed positive
significant correlation between their D and P forms. The distribution coefficients “KD” for
the different metals between the two phases were calculated and assessed.