Physical, Chemical Properties Assessment and accumulation of Some Heavy Metals in Sediment of Edku Lake, Egypt

To evaluate the physical, chemical properties and some heavy metals in sediment of Edku Lake the present study was carried out between January 2018 and December 2018 to identify the sediment pollution and assess its quality by calculating ecological indices, Sediment texture of the lake was classified as clay loam, organic matter (O.M) increased significantly as near to the source of the drainage canal while pH significantly increased as close to alkaline side of the Lake. Cations and anions are shown an increase at the end of the study than the beginning and the highest concentrations recorded nearest drainage water. The heavy metals ions concentrations in sediment varied widely and exhibit fluctuations among different metals during beginning and end of the present study, the order of abundance of these metals’ Fe²⁺ > Mn²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Pb²⁺. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were recorded at the sites nearest drainage water. Ecological indices showed that all studied sediment samples are classified as moderate contaminated (1 ≤ CF < 3) for Fe²⁺ except Boughaz site which belongs to the low contaminated category mean while Mn²⁺ at all sites described as very high contaminated (CF ≥ 6). Also, there is a considerable degree of contamination (16 ≤ C_d < 32) for all sites except site 6 described as a very high degree of contamination indicating serious anthropogenic pollution (C_d ≥ 32). All sites sediment samples classified as low potential ecological risk (Erⁱ < 40) for Zn²⁺ and Pb²⁺ values, while the contamination of Cd²⁺ was reached to very high ecological risk (Erⁱ ≥ 320) at all sites. Where, the sites (1, 6 and 7) were recorded to very high ecological risk (RI ≥ 600) while, other sites (2, 3, 4 and 5) were classified as considerable ecological risk.