article · Agriculture
Agricultural lands adjacent to Kitchener Drain in the northern Nile Delta experience seasonal and spatial variations in trace element concentrations across soil, water, and crops. Environmental assessments across seven sites during winter, spring, and autumn show that trace element levels in soil peak during winter, with the highest concentrations found in southern and central zones. Plant tissues similarly show higher quantities of most elements in winter, although nickel and lead remain almost undetected across all seasons. In contrast, drain water samples show lower or non-detected concentrations of trace elements compared to surrounding soils and vegetation. Ecological risk assessment values vary across the examined metals. The findings point to ongoing contamination risks driven by human activities, particularly the use of drain water for agricultural irrigation and the practice of spreading dredged drain materials directly onto farmland.
Tracking trace elements in agricultural landscapes is vital for protecting soil quality and crop safety. Identifying how pollutants disperse across seasons and locations shows that irrigation and sediment dredging introduce contaminants into the food system. This evidence helps environmental regulators and agricultural planners understand pollution pathways, recognise seasonal contamination peaks, and design targeted measures to protect farmland from long-term heavy metal accumulation.
This work represents early-stage environmental risk assessment rather than a ready technology. The data could inform environmental consultancies, agricultural monitoring bodies, and water management agencies seeking to design targeted soil testing programmes or remediation strategies. Significant applied development and field testing would be necessary before these findings could be translated into commercial soil treatment solutions, remediation services, or decision-support software for agricultural risk management.
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The pollution of agricultural soils, water and plants by trace elements (TEs) in the Nile Delta Region, Egypt, is of great importance. This study aimed to investigate the spatial and seasonal variation of some TEs in the agricultural area adjacent to Kitchener Drain and to evaluate the ecological risk posed by these elements using six indices. Soil and plant samples were collected from seven sites close to the drain, while water samples were collected from the corresponding sites inside the drain during three seasons (winter, spring and fall). The results showed that all studied TEs in the soil varied seasonally and spatially among the locations around the drain. Most of the studied elements in the soil were higher in the southern and middle area around the drain. All studied elements in the soil were also higher in the winter than other seasons. Nickel and lead were almost non-detected during all seasons in plant tissues, while other elements were higher in the winter than other seasons. In contrast to the soil and plant tissues, water samples demonstrated lower or non-detected levels of TEs. The results also indicated that the values for the risk assessment indices differed among the studied TEs. Therefore, there is a risk of increasing the concentration of some metals in the study area due to anthropogenic pollution from the adjacent polluted drain through irrigation with contaminated water and spreading of contaminated dredged materials on agricultural fields.
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DOI: 10.3390/agriculture9070152
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