International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.35, 353-360
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heavy metal on the overall quality of water (Reza and Singh, 2010). HPI in water was developed by assigning
weight or rating (Wi) for each selected element. The weighing value was between zero and one, reflecting the
relative importance of individual quality considerations.
Wi= K / S
i
Where Wi is the unit of weightage, k is the constant of proportionality (k=1), and S
i
is the recommended standard
for ith parameter.
The sub index (Qi) of the ith parameter was calculated according to Reza and Singh (2010):
Qi =
│ M
i
−Ii │
S
i
−Ii
× 100
Where M
i
is the monitored value of heavy metal of ith parameter in µg/l, I
i
is the maximum desirable value (ideal)
of ith parameter, S
i
refers to the standard or permissible limit for ith parameter.
The HPI model (Mohan et al., 1996) was calculated as:
HPI =
Wi Qi
n
i=1
Wi
n
i=1
Critical pollution index value is 100. The higher HPI value causes the greater damage to health.
1.2 Statistical analysis
Analysis Of Variance was applied by Minitab ver.16 software and Relative Least Significant Differences (RLSD)
values were calculated to identify the existence of temporal and spatial significant differences. Principal
Components Analysis (PCA) was done using Canoco ver.4.53 in order to get an overall assessment of the possible
relations among environmental variables
.
2 Results and Discussion
During visitation to the area, people were seen washing their cars, washing sheep and cattle in Shatt Al-Arab River,
irrigating their farms with the polluted water. Hence, consumers of milk, meat products, and vegetables may be at
risk of chemical poisoning and health complications arising from the dangerous metals pollutants.
The metal speciation (dissolved, particulate) can provide informations about the complex interactions among
components in an aquatic environment.
The concentrations of cadmium in dissolved phase ranged from (2.88 µg/L) at station 5 to (3.08 µg/L) at station 2
(Table 1). Whereas in particulate phase, the concentrations in the exchangeable phase ranged from (28.42 µg/g dry
weight) at station 5 to (56.47 µg/g dry weight) at station 4, the residual phase of particulate ranged from (31.93 µg/g
dry weight) at station 5 to (69.64 µg/g dry weight) at station 4. Relative Least Significant Differences showed
non-significant differences (P>0.05) were found among the cadmium concentrations (as dissolve or as particulate)
at different stations.
Copper concentrations as dissolved ranged from (2.14 µg/L) at station 5 to (2.58 µg/L) at station 1 (Table 1).
Non-significant differences (P>0.05) were found among the concentrations at different stations. While in
particulate phase, the concentrations in the exchangeable phase ranged from (22.74 µg/g dry weight) at station 5
to (67.10 µg/g dry weight) at station 1, and significant differences (P<0.01) were found among the concentrations
at different stations. The copper concentrations in the residual phase of particulate ranged from (60.80 µg/g dry
weight) at station 5 to (107.60 µg/g dry weight) at station 1, and non-significant differences (P>0.05) were found
among the residual concentrations at different stations.
