The effect of fluoride on the distribution of some minerals in the surface water of an Egyptian lagoon at the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The seasonal fluoride distribution in surface waters along Lake Edku and in the supplying land drains, as well as its effect on the formation of carbonated and fluoridated minerals were investigated. The data revealed that fluoride’s content was affected by the chlorinity value of two feeding sources of water in Lake Edku, which were the seawater from El-Maadiya inlet and drainage water from land drains. Fluoride in surface water showed average contents of 0.62–1.59, 0.44–1.53, 0.13–1.07 and 0.23–1.17mg/l in winter, spring, summer and autumn, respectively, with an annual average concentration of 0.8±0.1mg/l. The annual average of the saturation index (SI) of carbonated (calcite, aragonite and dolomite) and fluorapatite minerals along Lake Edku had values that exceeded the unity and referred to the over saturation of the lake water in respect to these minerals. In contrast, the average annual SI of fluorite and sellaïte gave values lower than unity. That indicated the under saturation in respect to these two minerals. The high saturation index values for fluorapatite may be related to the low solubility of calcite in apatite supernatants in alkaline conditions. Interestingly, the formation of the fluorapatite mineral leaves a small concentration of it, and that protects Lake Edku’s ecosystem from the destructive impact of fluoride pollution.