ABSTRACT
Untreated wastes are discharged into Abu-Qir Bay. This study deals with the dissolved and particulate heavy metal fractions in this bay and in the effluents of land-based sources discharging into it. The particulate fractions of Fe, Pb and Hg dominated the dissolved fractions. However, the dissolved Mn was in general much more abundant than particulate Mn and dissolved Cd was the main constituent of total Cd. The high concentrations of particulate metal fractions were associated with high organic load and suspended matter (SM), derived mainly from untreated industrial wastes, showing significant positive correlation with SM and with each other. The metal fractions increased in the inshore waters, directly affected by wastewater discharges, and decreased towards the offshore waters. They showed marked variations in the surface and bottom waters, due mainly to different processes, such as remobilization, regeneration from SM and sediments, phenomena occurring in the freshwater — seawater interface, biological activities and dispersion behaviour.
