Assessment of heavy metals contamination in the Nile River water and adjacent sediments: A case study from Khartoum City and Nile River State, Sudan

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the heavy metals concentration and the degreeof pollution in the water and adjacent sediment of the Nile River and its maintributaries at Khartoum City and River Nile State, Sudan. For this purpose, thirty-threewater and sediment samples were collected from River Nile, Blue Nile, and White Nile.Water chemical properties and sediment physicо-chemical properties were measure.Concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, Zn) weredetermined for both sediment and water samples using inductively coupled plasma(ICP-OES). Enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) were applied toquantify heavy metals pollution levels in sediment samples. The revealed that only Femetal detected in the water samples and its concentrations within the permissiblemaximum limit. This indicated that water is highly suitable for irrigation. Dependingon calculated enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo), sedimentsamples were found to be enriched and polluted with Mn and Mo particularly atBerber site which may as consequence of gold mining activities in this area. The studyrevealed relatively strong to strong correlation between heavy metals of Co, Cr, Cu,Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti, Zn (r2=0.84 to 0.99) and significant negative correlation with Mo(r2=0.58 to 0.73). This study recommends regular monitoring of heavy metals in theNile River and its main tributaries for conservation and protection from pollution.