ArticlePloS one2025
Health risk assessment of heavy metals in arid soils of the Nile Delta, Egypt using GIS and multivariate statistical analyses.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Economic expansion has led to an increase in new toxins in the environment, creating a global problem for managing both environmental and human health. This study aimed to quantify the concentration of heavy metals (HMs) in soils of the Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, located in the northern Nile Delta, Egypt, and to evaluate potential health risks by integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with multivariate statistical analyses. Soil samples from 27 sites were analysed for potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Soil pollution indices such as enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) were assessed. In addition, non-carcinogenic and cancer risk indices were calculated. To identify the origins of HMs in the research area, Pearson's bivariate correlation, principal component, and hierarchical cluster analyses (PCA) were used. The findings revealed that the mean HM concentrations (mg kg-1) were in the following order: Fe (10706 ± 2855)>Mn (697.53 ± 138.46)> As(210.07 ± 20.23)> Zn (207.40 ± 216.76)>Ni(112.43 ± 13.68)> Cu (87.15 ± 47.69)> Pb(31.11 ± 8.66)> Co(23.97 ± 5.96)> Cd (6.50 ± 5.62). The EF, CF, and Igeo indices indicated that the soils in the study area were contaminated with metals. The risk index values indicated moderate, considerable, and very high ecological risk, with a median value of 2060.40 (range: 192.95-5006.97). From PCA results, the possible sources of the metals in the arid soils included pesticides and chemical fertilizers, except for Mn, which appeared to originate from geogenic sources. Both children and adults had hazard quotient and Hazard index values less than one in all three exposure pathways, except for As in the ingestion pathway for children.. Furthermore, the total cancer risk (sum of ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact pathways for each element) associated with children's exposure to the elements under investigation was as follows: Pb (4.5E-02)> As (4.1E-03)> Ni (2.6E-03)> Cd (4.7E-05). Consequently, the largest cancer risk was determined to be from Pb. These results provide valuable information that emphasizes the need to mitigate pollution from potentially toxic elements in the Nile delta and minimize health concerns for the local population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.