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Occurrence and concentration of caffeine and cadmium as micropollutants in the Red Sea coast, Egypt

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Abstract

This study investigated the occurrence and levels of caffeine residue and cadmium traces on the Red Sea coast of Egypt and the effects of environmental variables on caffeine concentration, in order to evaluate the anthropogenic impacts on the coastal area of the Red Sea. To accomplish this study; three different sites were taken: El-Hamraween (HMR), Abo El-Swater (SWT), and Om El-Abas (ABS). Sediment and water samples were collected from low and high intertidal zones during June 2023. Some physicochemical variables and concentrations of caffeine and Cd were measured in the collected samples. Caffeine concentration in water samples ranged from 10.94 to 14.17 µg/L at low intertidal zone in SWT and the high intertidal zone in ABS, respectively, while caffeine concentration in sediment ranged from 0.27 to 0.66 µg/g at low intertidal zone in ABS and the high intertidal zone in HMR, respectively. The results indicate significant differences among the investigated sites according to variations in anthropogenic impacts. This study showed a clear association between caffeine and cadmium concentrations with physicochemical variables. Caffeine and Cd’s correlation and anthropogenic impacts highlight the need for more research on the interactions between pharmaceutical residues and heavy metals and their effects on the environment.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Dr. Gamal H. El-Sokkary and Reda A. Ali, Faculty of science Assiut University and Dr. Mahdy, A., Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, for their efforts in field trips and collecting samples. We thank Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University for facility of measuring sediment grain size analyses, organic matter and carbonate content.

Funding

Open access funding provided by The Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

    Samaa G. El-Sokkary, Khaleid F. Abd El-Wakeil & Ahmad H. Obuid-Allah

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  1. Samaa G. El-Sokkary
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  2. Khaleid F. Abd El-Wakeil
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  3. Ahmad H. Obuid-Allah
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Contributions

S.E. contributed to collected and analyse the data and drafting the article.K.A. contributed to conception and designs the works, statistical analyse of the data and critically revising the article for important A.O. contributed to conception and designs the work, reading and revising the manuscript.All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Khaleid F. Abd El-Wakeil.

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El-Sokkary, S.G., Abd El-Wakeil, K.F. & Obuid-Allah, A.H. Occurrence and concentration of caffeine and cadmium as micropollutants in the Red Sea coast, Egypt.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38344-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38344-7

Keywords

  • Pharmaceutical residues
  • Heavy metals
  • Anthropogenic impacts
  • Physicochemical variables
  • Coastal ecosystem

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