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An experiment was carried out at Orman Botanical Garden, Giza, Egypt during 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons to reveal the response of Nerium oleander L. transplants to Pb, Cd, and Ni in combinations at various concentrations after short and long growth periods. Pollution treatments and growth periods were combined factorially to study the effect of interactions. The results showed that survival % was 100% by the various applied treatments. Plant height, stem diameter, and leaf area traits were improved by heavy metal combinations, whereas No. branches and leaves/plant, root length and top growth, and roots fresh and dry weights were negatively affected. Elongating growth period up to 18 months significantly increased means of the different vegetative and root growth traits compared to 6-months period. So, combining between planting in either control or first treatment combination mixture and the longer growth period significantly improved most of the growth parameters. The percent of pollution resistance index took a similar trend, and it was higher than 88% in the two seasons by fourth treatment combination indicating a high tolerance to HMs toxicity. Thus, N. oleander plants can be successfully used for landscaping HMs-polluted sites due to their high survival and tolerance potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was undertaken during 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons to reveal the impact of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni) in combinations at various concentrations on the survival, growth, and chemical composition of Dodonaea viscasa L. seedlings after two periods of growth (PG): 6- and 18-months from planting. The interaction effect was also studied. The results indicated that survival % was 100% under the different sole or combined treatments, but the mean values of vegetative and root growth traits were gradually decreased with few exceptions as the concentrations of heavy metals were increased to reach minimum by the T4 combination. Elongating growth period up to 18 months significantly improved growth relative to that measured after 6 months. Hence, combining between planting in either unpolluted or polluted mixture with T1 combination and a growing period of 18 months gave the best growth. The gradual increment in HMs concentrations was accompanied by a gradual decrement in pollution resistance index (PRI) percentages, which were higher than 66% at the highest HMs concentrations indicating its high ability to withstand HMs toxicity. Different responses were observed regarding the chemical composition of the leaves and roots. Accordingly, Dodonaea viscosa L. plant can be used as a good phytoremediator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molluscs, owing to their filtrate ability, can accumulate metals that may contaminate food, causing a negative impact on the health of the consumers. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the heavy metal concentrations in one of the widest broad and consumed surf clams Mactra olorina available in the Great Bitter Lake, Egypt. The concentrations of the heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn) were seasonally evaluated in water, sediment, and the soft flesh of M. olorina. The specimens were monthly collected from the Egyptian Great Bitter Lake near Fayed City (Ismailia Governorate) for one year, from April 2009 to March 2010. Results revealed that, the annual mean concentrations of heavy metals in water were 1.376±0.562, 0.267±0.329, 2.256±2.909 and 3.355±2.731 μg/l for Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn, respectively. The corresponding concentration values in the sediment were 0.398±0.355, 0.307±0.244, 1.753±0.464 and 8.643±1.821 for Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn μg/g, respectively. While, the annual mean concentrations of heavy metals in soft tissues were 0.538±1.130, 0.262±0.283, 5.395±3.115 and 13.043±5.743 for Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn μg/g, respectively. Interestingly, heavy metals deposited in the tissues of M. olorina and their environment (water and sediments) recorded a close relationship (0.05 ≥ p ≤0.01) in the current research. In conclusion, though no apparent risk was detected on bivalve consumers from being exposed to a single metal, yet there is a risk from being exposed to the 4 studied metals combined together, especially for high bivalve-consuming groups such as fishermen. Furthermore, environmental parameters need to consider when to use bivalves as indicators of heavy metal pollution since seasonality could affect the absorption of heavy metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring, the use of biota and their habitat provides a good indication of conditions and potential threats to any water body. The potential for heavy metal poisoning in humans because of consuming tainted fish has gotten a lot of press around the world. Heavy metal pollutants in water are mostly caused by human activities such as waste disposal, organic fuel combustion, phosphate fertilizers, plastics, and pesticides. The aim of this study was to see how much heavy metals contamination there was in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and how physicochemical characteristics affected the biomarkers. Heavy metals accumulation (cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, and iron) was studied on the serological indices of a freshwater fish O. niloticus. Fish, water, and sediments were collected at three locations along the Nile River. The findings of this study showed a significant difference in water quality indices in response to pollution levels among the sites studied. Consequently, the current results confirm that the distribution of heavy metals in tissues could potentially deteriorate biochemical parameters of O. niloticus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaves of Ficus retusa were collected from three locations; suburban, urban and industrial in Northern Egypt. Concentrations of heavy metals in soils collected from the suburban site were lower than that collected from other sites. Plants washed with 1% soap showed better growth, higher chlorophyll content and higher photosynthetic rates than those remained unwashed or washed with tap water or 0.1N HCl. Our results indicated that washing treatments alleviated the phytotoxic effects of heavy metal pollution on plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the relation of the mobility and distribution of metals between Tamarix parts and their crystal salts - soil system, different experiments were conducted with plant-rich and plant-free soils at the banks of river Nile, Aswan, Egypt. For these purposes, Tamarix top and subsoil samples near and far from the plant were collected from six different locations at the banks of river Nile. Elemental analysis of Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd and Pb in soil, and in different parts of Tamarix and their crystal salt samples was carried out by atomic absorption spectrometry, whereas Na and K were measured by atomic emission spectrophotometry. The bioavailability of metals in the soil samples was evaluated by determining their contents using sequential extraction single-step, providing higher metal concentrations in occluded Fe/Mn oxide fraction. The ratio of heavy metal concentrations in topsoil to that in subsoil enhancement (RTE) ranged from 0.67 to 4.4 and 0.22 to 4.61 for soil Tamarix and soil free from plant, respectively for all measured total element concentrations. Data indicate that the mobility expressed as transfer factor (TF) was obtained as Fe > Mg > Cr > Mn > Ca > K > Na, for Tamarix leaves. The major part of accumulated Na in Tamarix is retained in the plant leaves, while roots accumulated high concentration of Co. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine heavy-metal levels in soil from the banks of Lake Nasser, the ability of Tamarix nilotica to accumulate such metals from soil and hence its potential for phytoextraction. Soil and Tamarix samples were collected from the banks of four bights around Lake Nasser and analysed for Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd and Pb by atomic absorption spectrometry, whereas Na and K were measured by atomic emission spectrophotometry. Three different methods of extraction were used for the soil samples. Lead, copper and zinc were equally distributed between the exchangeable phase and Fe/Mn oxide-bound form, while other measured metals were mainly present in the Fe/Mn oxide fraction. With the exception of iron, all metals studied showed total concentrations within the geochemical background values. T nilotica exhibited elevated concentrations of Na (36.2–48.5mg g-1) and K (2.74–4.33mg g-1) in stems, and relatively high concentrations of Pb, Cd and Co (0.39–1.03 μg g-1, 0.24–1.3 μg g-1 and 1.94–5.3 μg g-1, respectively) are found in plant leaves. Bioaccumulation factors of Na and K (9.3 and 12.63, respectively) were high in T nilotica stems. While the bioaccumulation of Pb, Cd, Co and Ni (2870.1, 2035.4, 10.5 and 5313.2, respectively) was high in plant leaves, Fe, Mn, Ca and Mg were accumulated relatively equally in plant stems and leaves. T nilotica was found to secrete high amounts of Na, Ca and K, in addition to small amounts of all accumulated metals except Cd and Cu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]