CHEMICAL-PHYSICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION OF A POLLUTED COASTAL AREA: THE MANZALA LAKE OF EGYPT, CASE STUDY

Abstract

The present study on the Manzala Lake is to define the environmental state, where the freshwater mollusks play significant roles in the public and veterinary health. Moreover the benthic foraminifers are affected by environmental changes and can be used as bio-indicators of pollution in coastal environments. Several physical and chemical factors are considered as affecting the ecology of snails and other intermediate hosts of diseases have been studied in the present work. The Recent sediment reported in the Manzala Lake illustrated that the whole area is characterized by relatively coarser fractions (silty sand) and located at the western part of the lake. The regional pollution index (RPI) of the studied Manzala Lake bottom sediments are exposed to high pollution levels by Cd, Pb, Ni and Co. Meanwhile, Zn and Cu display low degree of pollution. The highest values of heavy metals are recorded near El-Serw agricultural drain and also, at eastern portion of the lake near Bahr El-Baqar agricultural drain where the industrial region in Port Said country.