Assessment of heavy metal contamination in seawater in Agadir coastline, Morocco

The coastal region of Agadir, Morocco, is subject to various human activities and industrial development, raising concerns about potential heavy metal pollution in the surrounding seawater. This study aimed to assess the levels of heavy metals pollution in seawater along the coast of Agadir by conducting sampling at six sites: Aglou Beach (S1), Wassay Beach (S2), Douira Desalination Plant (S3), Agadir Beach (S4), Anza Beach (S5), and Cap Ghir (S6). In addition to the heavy metal analysis, various physicochemical parameters such as temperature (T°C), pH, conductivity, salinity, chlorides, sulfates, nitrate, and nitrite were measured further to understand the overall water quality in these areas. The concentration of selected metals was in the range 10 – 70 μg/l, 24 – 440 μg/l, 20 – 85 μg/l, 40 – 1500 μg/l and 400 – 980 μg/l for Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn, and Fe, respectively. The maximal concentration of these heavy metals was recorded from sampling site 5, and minimum in location 6. The pH ranges from 8.18–8.35 in stations 6 and 1, respectively. Electrical conductivity values of surface seawater ranged from 44,254 to 50,210 μS/cm at stations 6 and 5. The minimum and maximum salinity concentrations were 30.29 and 34.37 g/L in sites 4 and 3, respectively. Our results revealed that the physicochemical parameters and concentrations of heavy metals were nearly identical across all zones apart from Anza and Douira. This is probably related to anthropogenic activities (industrial, wastewater, desalination plants, etc.…) in these two areas.