International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.23, 214-228
225
Table 5 The calculated enrichment factor (EF) and metal pollution load index (MPI) in sediments of the studied ports
Stations
EF
Co
EF
Cu
EF
Zn
EF
Ni
EF
Cd
EF
Mn
EF
Pb
MPI
H-I
<0.01
2.44
2.96
1.80
6.49
0.76
10.03
1.33
H-II
0.01
8.76
8.22
2.46
0.01
0.68
25.15
1.50
H-III
0.55
2.02
1.67
2.37
0.06
0.58
2.35
1.11
H-IV
1.21
6.43
3.99
5.65
1.40
0.33
13.87
1.39
S-I
0.40
1.10
1.11
0.79
0.70
2.53
1.79
1.08
S-II
0.45
1.22
1.36
1.12
1.30
4.06
1.95
1.09
S-III
0.75
1.07
3.02
1.27
2.79
3.72
2.75
1.13
S-IV
0.91
1.05
0.66
1.29
1.55
2.25
2.80
1.14
S-V
1.21
1.16
0.56
1.45
2.41
1.99
5.03
1.22
Q-I
1.06
0.96
0.89
1.93
5.20
2.80
6.51
1.26
Q-II
0.93
0.70
1.59
2.18
2.63
2.71
3.52
1.17
Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) has been proposed by Müller (1969) to evaluate the contamination level in
sediments by comparing current status with the pre-industrial levels according to the formula:
=
2
1.5
Where Cn is the current concentration of metal, Bn is the geochemical background value of the same metal, and
the factor 1.5 is the matrix correction factor of the background. According to Müller (1981), Igeo is estimated over
seven categories; uncontaminated sediments (Igeo
≤
0), uncontaminated to moderately contaminated (0< Igeo
≤
1),
moderately contaminated (1< Igeo
≤
2), moderately to strongly contaminated (2< Igeo
≤
3), strongly contaminated
(3< Igeo
≤
4), strongly to extremely contaminated (4< Igeo
≤
5) and extremely contaminated (Igeo
≥
5).
As calculated in Table 4, the Igeo values of the studied heavy metals at the different stations were classified the
marine sediments as unpolluted to moderate polluted; except at Hurghada shipyard, the marine sediments were
classified as moderately to highly polluted by Cu (2.56), Zn (2.47) and Pb (4.08).
3 Conclusions
Distribution and ecological risk of heavy metals were investigated in finest fractions of the surface sediments of
Red Sea ports at Hurghada, Safaga and Qusier Cities. The total of the finest fractions (Ø3, Ø4 and Ø5) was varied
between 36.26% and 83.47% with considerable high percentages of the different stations indicating to different
sources of depositions mostly from the maritime activities, terrestrial runoff, phosphate shipments and the nearby
coastal based activities. Carbonate percentage showed significant decline with increasing the terrigenous inputs at
Safaga followed by Qusier, however, Hurghada stations showed high carbonate percentages due to the high
marine productivity. TOM recorded variable percentages at the different stations may attribute to the local effects
of the anthropogenic effluents. At Hurghada, the finest fraction Ø5 was the essential heavy metal carrier followed
by Ø4 with reference to Hurghada shipyard that recorded significantly high Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni and Pb in the
finest fraction Ø5. At Safaga, Fe showed relatively high values at the different wharfs relative to Hurghada and
Qusier due to the high amount of terrestrial runoff. At Qusier, the highest Fe and Zn was showed at the fishing
basin in Ø5 followed by Ø3. The distribution of Fe and Mn were generally lower in Hurghada stations (p
≤
0.05)
comparing to Safaga and Qusier stations with distinctive high levels of Cu (p<0.05) in Ø5. A strong correlation
observed between Fe, Mn and partially Cd, it was associated with the process of shipping of raw materials from
Safaga and Qusier ports. The organic matter content showed no significant correlation with heavy metals in the
surface sediments, and carbonate was negatively correlated with Cu, Zn and Pb. The levels of heavy metals in
present study were similar/or below the levels recorded in other ports worldwide. According to sediments quality
guidelines (SQGs), the concentrations of heavy metals in sediments of the studied ports were not expected to have
biological adverse effects, except the metals Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni may pose some ecological risks to marine
organisms near the shipyard of Hurghada.
