Impact of the Controlled Dump of Fez City (Morocco): Evaluation of Metallic Trace Elements Contamination in the Sediments
Youssra Ahouach,
Abdennasser Baali,
Abdellah Boushaba,
Oualid Hakam,
Khalil Azennoud,
Aziza Lyazidi,
Safaa Benmessaoud,
Amine Assouguem,
Mohammed Kara,
Mona Abdullah Alsaigh,
Amal M. Al-Mohaimeed,
Tse-Wei Chen
Affiliations
Youssra Ahouach
Laboratory of Engineering, Electrochemistry, Modelling and Environment, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Abdennasser Baali
Laboratory of Engineering, Electrochemistry, Modelling and Environment, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Abdellah Boushaba
Laboratory of Natural Substances, Pharmacology, Environment, Modeling, Health & Quality of Life, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Oualid Hakam
Laboratory of Engineering, Electrochemistry, Modelling and Environment, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Khalil Azennoud
Laboratory of Engineering, Electrochemistry, Modelling and Environment, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Aziza Lyazidi
Laboratory of Space, History, Dynamics and Sustainable Development, Faculty Polydisciplinary of Taza, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Safaa Benmessaoud
SAM Laboratory, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Higher School of Technology Sidi Bennour, Chouaib Doukkali University, Av. des Facultés, El Haouzia, El Jadida 24123, Morocco
Amine Assouguem
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Mohammed Kara
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Conservation and Valorisation of Naturals Resources (LBCVNR), Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mehraz, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah, BP 1796 Atlas, Fez 30000, Morocco
Mona Abdullah Alsaigh
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Amal M. Al-Mohaimeed
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Tse-Wei Chen
Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
In order to qualify and quantify the impact of sediment contamination in hydric settings by metallic trace elements (MTE) emanating from the controlled dump of Fez city (northern Morocco), leachate and sediment sample analyses were carried out. The leachates collected from the 24 sites are characterised by a pH between 6.91 and 8, a COD varying between 430.7 and 7962 mg/L, an NTK content up to 1955 mg/L, with an average of 1514 mg/L, and a nitrate concentration reaching 46 mg/L in some samples, which exceeds the standards for discharges into the natural environment. The chromium content emanating mainly from household waste varies between 1.69 and 4.90 mg/L. The MTE content (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Fe) of the different leachates varies from one basin to another. The sediments downstream of the dump along the sampling profile show pH values between 7.34 and 8.21 (compared to 7.96–8.82 for the reference samples), and electrical conductivity values fluctuate between 1.21 ms/cm and 5.37 ms/cm for the contaminated sediments (compared to 0.8 ms/cm for the reference sediment). The analysis of metallic trace elements in the sediments by ICP-AES shows that their content varies slightly from one sampling point to another. Furthermore, they do not vary considerably from the surface (0 cm) to the depth (20 cm). The average values of metallic element concentrations are 45.83 ± 2.14 mg/Kg for Cu, 4.40 ± 0.07 mg/Kg for Cd, 43.76 ± 3.40 mg/Kg for Cr, 72.99 ± 1.85 mg/Kg for Ni, 21.71 ± 6.55 mg/Kg for Pb and 102.02 ± 7.28 mg/kg for Zn. In effect, the negative environmental impact of Fez controlled dumping site is ostensibly underlined both by (i) the pollution load index values, which indicate a strong and progressive deterioration along the thalweg, and (ii) the statistical analysis (PCA), which reveals a common origin of the deduced pollutants through the strong correlation between the majority of the analysed elements.
