CURRENT SITUATION OF WATER POLLUTION AND ITS EFFECT ON AQUATIC LIFE IN EGYPT

AG, Mohamed; AM, El Safty; MS, Siha

doi:10.21608/ejom.2013.775

CURRENT SITUATION OF WATER POLLUTION AND ITS EFFECT ON AQUATIC LIFE IN EGYPT

Document Type : Study paper

Authors

¹ Community, Environmental, and Occupational Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine Suez Canal University, Ismailia

² epartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University

10.21608/ejom.2013.775

Abstract

Water is a multi-dimensional issue and a prerequisite for achieving human security, from the individual to the international level. The Nile River has long been a crucial component of both the identity and the vitality of Egypt. Egypt faces a rapidly increasing deterioration of its surface and groundwater due to increasing discharges of heavily polluted domestic and industrial effluents into its waterways. Excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture also causes water pollution problems. Many disasters in Egypt were happening and leading to water pollution. Toxicity of fishes in Egypt occurs due to water pollution from chemical plants and sewage pipes. The water quality assessment is very important for implementation of the monitoring and remediation programs to minimize the risk promoted by hazardous substances in aquatic ecosystems. Evaluation of the degree of contamination of aquatic environments must take in account its chemical characteristics which has potential toxic effects and allows an integrated evaluation of its effects on populations of the aquatic system. During the last few decades, great attention has been paid to the possible dangers of heavy metal poisoning in human due to the consumption of contaminated fish. Industrial and agricultural discharges such as coal and oil combustion, phosphate fertilizers, plastics and pesticides are considered the major sources of heavy metal pollutants of water.

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