Vanadium occurrence in Alexandria coastal waters

The present study focused on the occurrence and spatial distribution of vanadium in Alexandria coastal water. Average V concentrations in the investigated water during the period of study were 8.8 mug l-1, 15.6 mug l-1 and 24.4 mug l-1, respectively, for the dissolved particulate and total phases. The spatial distribution of V in the investigated water indicated that the metal enters Alexandria coastal environment mainly from the wastes of the industries located at Abou- Qir and El-Dekhalla area. The relative proportion of the particulate phase in the total V concentration was higher than that of the dissolved phase, respectively, 64% and 36%. The large variations in the total V levels that occurred over the area investigated were due to the variations in the particulate phase concentrations. Alexandria coastal water samples exceeded the V typical concentration for sea water and showed higher V levels in comparison to water of Sargasso Sea, north-west Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of St. Lawrence and the North Pacific Ocean. The measured V concentrations in the investigated water are comparable to those found in other Mediterranean coastal areas

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of coastal sediments subjected to discharges of oil formation water

The routine discharge water into the coastal water of Halul Island which represents one of the important ecological and economic sites in the Arabian Gulf, has raised concern over the potential impact that these waters may have no marine life. In the present study, the concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] in Halul coastal sediments and their cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on the examined fish cells are presented. The PAHs concentrations were supersingly high indicating the possibility of severe oil pollution in the sediments of the studied area. Extracts of sediment samples collected from the immediate vicinity of the disposal outfall produced genotoxic responses in the form of nondisjunctions, lagging chromosomes, chromosome fragments, and chromosome bridges in the examined fish cells. Extracts of sediments of only 2 samples, collected downstream the disposal outfall, out of 11 were not only mutagenic, but could also augment the synthesis of the altered DNA. Organisms exposed to such sediments may be vulnerable to the development of neoplastic tissue [cancer]. The results suggested that the correlation between the degree of deviation of the immunological changes in fish cells and sediments PAHs concentrations was so strong that immunological measurements have been suggested as sensitive biomarkers of exposure and effects