J. Egypt. Acad. Soc. Environ. Develop., 24 (1):1-11 (2023) (D-Environmental Studies) E. mail: easedjournal_egypt@yahoo.com ISSN 1110-8770 www.jades.journals.ekb.eg eISSN 2314-5471 (online) Occurrence of trace elements in coastal seawater of the Egyptian Red Sea Safaa A. Mahmoud 1 , Lamiaa I. Mohamedein 2 , Adel S. Orabi 3 , Khalid M. El-Moselhy 2* and Eman M. Saad 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez, Egypt 2 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, NIOF, Cairo, Egypt 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt * Corresponding author: E-mail:khalidelmoselhy@yahoo.com Co-author E-mail:emmsaad@yahoo.com (E.M. Saad) ABSTRACT The Red Sea serves a main role in the international economy with cargo containers travelling between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, thus shortening the route between Asia and Europe as compared to travelling around Africa via the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to this increases development in the regions around it. These aspects impelled us to investigate the pollution degree along the Red Sea coastal areas. Therefore, the present study planned to monitor the trace elements (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, Mn and Fe) in seawater from different regions along the Egyptian Red Sea. Water samples were collected during winter and summer 2019 from nineteen stations representing different environmental situations of the Gulf of Suez, Aqaba Gulf and Red Sea proper. Concentrations of the studied elements were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer technique. The investigated elements recorded an annual mean of 1.13, 0.25, 1.24, 11.65, 0.29, 0.97, 0.68 and 14.67 μg/L in the Suez Gulf ; 1.07, 0.25, 1.27, 11.88, 0.39, 0.88, 1.19 and 12.45 μ g/L in the Gulf of Aqaba Gulf and 0.76, 0.18, 0.95, 12.28, 0.24, 0.63, 0.45 and 15.22 μg/L in the Red Sea proper for Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, Mn and Fe, respectively. Summer recorded the highest levels of all studied elements except Cd and Mn with significant temporal variations (p < 0.05) for Cu, Zn, Co, Ni and Fe. Gulf of Suez recorded high concentrations of Pb, Cd and Ni, while Cu, Zn, Co, Mn and Fe were presented in the Aqaba Gulf and Red Sea proper, with only significant variations for Ni and Mn (p = 0.004 and 0.025, respectively) between the different studied regions. Finally, levels of the studied elements in seawater from the Egyptian Red Sea were higher than those recorded for the background concentrations in the open ocean, but still lower than the recommended values for water quality. Keywords: Trace elements, water, Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Aqaba Gulf. INTRODUCTION The subject of pollution is the focus of widespread public interest and is seen as a priority area for research in both developed and developing countries (Harrison, 2001). There are different routes by which pollution can be presented into the aquatic environment, contamination inputs include industrial and/or domestic effluents, chemicals released in combination with oil exploration or the decommissioning of oil platforms and chemicals originating from agricultural run-off, such as fertilizers and pesticides. One of the most dangerous pollutants is the trace elements, which receive major attention due to their toxicity, accumulation in the biota and subsequent influence on the environment and human health. It well known that elements differ Received: January 10, 2023 Accepted: February 9, 2023