The application of sewage sludge (SS) in agriculture is an alternative disposal method for wastewater recycling and soil fertilization. This study evaluated heavy metal bioaccumulation, growth, and yield of Pisum sativum (pea) grown in agricultural soil amended with SS at rates of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 g/kg. The results show that root, shoot, pod length, biomass, and number of leaves and pods increased with SS amendments of 10 and 20 g/kg, while rates declined at 30 and 40 g/kg. SS had greater salinity and organic content than the soil. Heavy metals in the postharvest soil samples increased for all SS application rates except Fe and Mo. The significant increase in Cd content started at the lowest amendment rate 10 g/kg; for Co, Mn, and Pb, the significant increase was detected at the highest amendment rate (40 g/kg). Generally, all heavy metals increased significantly in portions of P. sativum except Cd in the shoot. At an amendment rate of 10 g/kg, Co in the shoot and root, Cr in the fruit, Cu in the root, Fe in the fruit, Mn in the shoot and fruit, Mo in the fruit, Pb in the shoot, and Zn in the fruit were elevated significantly. In contrast, the concentrations of Cd in the fruit, Cr in the root, Cu in the shoot, Fe in the shoot and root, Ni in the fruit and root, Pb in the fruit and root, and Zn in the root significantly increased only at the highest rate of 40 g/kg. The highest regression R² was 0.927 for Mn in pods and the lowest was 0.154 for Cd in shoots. Bioaccumulation and translocation factors were > 1 for Mo and the bioaccumulation of Pb was >1. SS could be used for pea fertilization but only at rates below 20 g/kg to avoid environmental and health hazards.

The present study was carried out to develop and validate an analytical method for the detection and quantification of lambda-cyhalothrin, a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, in tomato using gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The study has meant to ascertain lambda-cyhalothrin dissipation behavior under dry land conditions. The analytical method was validated using blank tomato spiked at 0.01, 0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg, with satisfactory recoveries ranging between 92.3 to 95.1 % and relative standard deviations (RSDs) < 13.4 %. Good linearity was achieved, with a determination coefficient (R 2) of 0.999 for the 0.005–2.0 mg/L concentration range. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.005 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Dissipation pattern of lambda-cyhalothrin applied on open field grown tomato was also assessed using the same method. Lambda-cyhalothrin residues declined very quickly following first-order rate kinetics with half-life of 3.12 days. At harvest time, 14 days after final application, the remaining residues of lambda-cyhalothrin were below CODEX maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.05 mg/kg. Exposure of lambda-cyhalothrin has been assessed and compared to acceptable daily intake (ADI). The assessment of consumers’ exposure was based on the international estimated daily intake (IEDI) compared to acceptable daily intake (ADI). The long-term risk assessment was performed by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ). Since the HQChronic of lambda-cyhalothrin never exceeded 1.2 %, the tomato fruits could be considered safe for human consumption 14 days after application of lambda-cyhalothrin at the recommended dose.

Food is the major source of metal exposure for the nonsmoking general population. Food samples of plant and animal origin from Ismailia, Egypt, were analyzed for the content of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) using AAS. The Cr, Zn, and Cu concentrations were in the range of 1.7–249 µg kg⁻¹ wet weight (ww), 2–66 mg kg⁻¹ ww, and 0.5–3.46 mg kg⁻¹ ww, respectively. The mean daily intake of Cr, Zn, and Cu was 28.9 µg day⁻¹, 8.55 mg day⁻¹, and 1.7 mg day⁻¹, respectively. The intake estimates are within the range of the recommended intake established internationally. Concentrations of Cd and Pb were in the range of 10–321 µg kg⁻¹ ww and 31–1200 µg kg⁻¹ ww, respectively. The weekly dietary intake for Cd and Pb (4.02 and 20.4 µg kg⁻¹ b.w, respectively) is lower than the FAO/WHO PTWI. Bread is the foodstuff that provided the highest rate of Pb and Cd (62 and 46% of the daily intake) to adults in Ismailia city.

A number of Avicennia marina mangrove forests exist along the 1134 km stretch of the Saudi Red Sea coast. Three areas, one in each of the north, centre, and south of the coast, were selected for this investigation into the relationship between total biomass (above-ground, AGB, and below-ground, BGB), and biomass carbon stocks of A. marina, along the nutrient availability (combined with a salinity gradient). To estimate the total biomass stock, this research employed equations formulated through a regression approach. Various population characteristics (tree crown diameter, height, and density) and measurements of carbon (C) in the trees were captured, and other measurements were gathered to represent the environmental properties: electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), and total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) levels. With this data from the 21 stands and 7 sites of A. marina covered by the three locations chosen along the coast, it was concluded that a discernible influence is exerted by the concentrations of TP and TN in the sea water and sediments over the population characteristics of this plant. The resulting estimates also demonstrated a steady increase in total biomass and total biomass carbon storage from the mangroves in the north toward the south, with values changing overall from 197.9 to 1188.2 Mg DM ha⁻¹ and from 87.6 to 412.5 Mg C ha⁻¹ respectively. This illustrates that the biomasses held by the southern mangroves are 6 times (total) and 4.7 times (total carbon storage) higher than those in the north.

Healthy coastal sabkhas (sabkha is an Arabic term for a salt flat) offer plenty of ecosystem services including climate change mitigation. However, fewer research studies were conducted at coastal sabkhas compared to other coastal marshes. This study was conducted in a total of ten coastal sabkha sites with different vegetation covers along the southern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. The main objectives were to model and predict the distribution of volumetric soil organic carbon (SOC) density (kg C/m³) and cumulative SOC stocks (kg C/m²) using three different mathematic functions (allometric, exponential, and sigmoid) based on sampled and observed soil carbon (C) data (total of 125 soil cores = 1250 soil samples). Sigmoid function showed the greatest fit for predicting the distribution of volumetric SOC density over soil profile depth with mean Adj. R² = 0.9978, 0.9611, and 0.9623 for vegetation cover of >25–50, >50–75, and >75–100%, respectively. For modeling the cumulative SOC stocks, both validation indices and p of the t-test confirmed that using the exponential function is the most appropriate to be used for predicting the SOC stock among different vegetation covers. Moreover, assessing the topsoil concentration factors (TCFs) showed that the distribution of the SOC content is impacted to a great extent by the vegetation cover at coastal sabkhas. Sampling the soil parameter of interest to estimate the SOC stocks is constrained by time and cost. Therefore, using the exponential function for predicting the distribution of cumulative SOC stocks at coastal sabkhas over soil profile depth is appropriate and promising for mapping SOC stocks at both regional and global spatial scales.