**5. References**


Nearly 40% of industrial development activities are practiced in Egyptian coastal zones, in addition to a number of urban and tourism development activities. Furthermore, coastal zones monopolize the seaports infrastructure, in addition to agricultural and land reclamation sectors, as well as a developed road network capable of accommodating all development aspects. The coastal zones attract increasing numbers of migrating workers from other areas and Governorates. Tourism development represents one of the main activities in Egypt's coastal zones, particularly in terms of beach development regarded as

The quality of marine and coastal environments and their environmental resources along the Nile Delta ecosystem are threatened by a number of hazards related to internal development inside the country whose impacts are carried to coastal zones via the river

Results of the present study indicate El Gamil beach along the western coast of Port Said City on the Mediterranean Sea is considered a non metal polluted area, suggesting regular monitoring of metals in the sediments, water and marine organisms should be undertaken, due to the rapid growth of area. Different types of pollutants, including agricultural, industrial, organic compounds and domestic discharge were identified by analyzing bottom sediment, surface water and bivalve sampling collected from the study area of heavy metals. Contaminants originating from agricultural and domestic sources were detected along the El Fardous and El Gamil inlets. Industrial pollutants were detected at the El Manasra and El Fardous sites. These contaminants were associated with natural gas companies, pipeline industries and an electric power generating station. The proximity to various anthropogenic sources of pollutants warrants a continue monitoring program in the Egyptian coasts along Mediterranean Sea for inorganic and chemical organic compounds in sediments, water, and biota in order to have an effective coastal management program to protect the ecological integrity of this valuable ecosystem and the health of humans associated with it. The reported results could be considered as documentation of a good understanding to assess the ecosystem status of the concerned sites, and might be useful to researchers interested in the cotastal zones of Mediterranean Sea. Farther environmental studies are required to assess and improve the development planning and economic activities along of study area

Alexander, G., Young, D. (1976). Trace metals in Southern California mussels. Marine

APHA (1992). *Standard Methods for the examination of waters and wastewaters.* 16th ed.,

Argese, E., Ramieri, E., Bettiol, C., Pavoni, B., Chiozzotto, E., Sfriso, A. (1997). Pollutant

Brar, N.K., Waggoner, C., Reyes, J.A., Fairy, R., Kelley, K.M. (2009). Evidence for thyroid

exchange at the water /sediment interface in the venice canals. Water, Air, and Soil

endocrine disruption in wild fish in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Relationships to contaminant exposures. Aquatic Toxicology doi:10.101 /j.aquatox.

(Washington, DC; American Public Health Association).

**4. Conclusion** 

and its vicinity.

**5. References** 

Pollution Bulletin 7, 7-9.

pollution 99, 255-263

2009.10.023.

the basis of international tourist attraction.

Nile, agricultural drainage system and air (land sources).


**16** 

Viia Lepane

*Estonia* 

*Tallinn University of Technology* 

**HPLC Fingerprints of Porewater** 

**Organic Compounds as Markers** 

Lake sediments are considered invaluable natural archives that provide long-term records of past changes in climate and environment related to catchment processes as well as in-lake changes in biological communities. Moreover, lake sediments also register anthropogenic activities and man-made environmental problems. Lake sediments are known to accumulate different compounds during their formation and adsorption processes, and thus sediment investigations can be used as an important tool to assess the contamination of aquatic ecosystems. The organic matter in sediments is distributed between the particulate and

The dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important component of aquatic ecosystems and of the global carbon cycle. It is known that changes in DOM quality and quantity have effects on the whole ecosystem. Quantitative and qualitative changes in DOM are related to precipitation, runoff, and seasons. DOM consists of a mixture of macromolecular compounds with a wide range of chemical properties and diverse origins. The DOM in lakes can serve as a molecular proxy for identification of previous inputs of organic matter. Moreover, detailed knowledge about DOM is greatly needed in order to reconstruct palaeoclimate or land-use. The biogeochemical transformation of DOM helps to elucidate past and present environmental conditions. For all those reasons, detailed DOM

Since DOM is naturally a very complex mixture of molecules, the determination of its exact chemical composition is a complicated task. Only detailed chemical characterization using various analytical methods could be carried out. A part of DOM is optically active, enabling spectroscopic methods based on UV absorption to be used for the characterization. Another possible method of DOM analysis is chromatographic size fractionation using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a size exclusion option (high-performance size exclusion chromatography – HPSEC). HPSEC has been widely used in studies of DOM together with spectroscopic methods. The reliability and sensitivity of this method have been reported and discussed previously (Chin et al., 1994; Hoque et al., 2003; Minor et al., 2002; Nissinen et al., 2001; Pelekani et al., 1999; Perminova et al., 1998, 2003; Specht & Frimmel, 2000; Zhou et al., 2000). Although HPSEC characterization of lake sediment *pw*DOM has demonstrated great potential for

dissolved phases, and usually the aquatic phase is named porewater (*pw*).

characterization at the molecular level is of utmost importance.

**1. Introduction** 

**for Environmental Conditions** 

