title: Spatial assessment of the sewage contamination of Kuwait's marine areas.
abstract: Discharge of sewage to the coastal areas resulting in the deteriorating quality of seawater and polluted sediments has been one of important stressor in Kuwait. The objective of this study was to conduct spatial assessment of sewage contamination of coastal areas. The assessment was carried out by measuring fecal sterols as indicator of sewage contamination, in the marine sediments collected from 112 locations throughout the Kuwait's marine areas. The samples were extracted and sterols separated. Derivatized sterols were analyzed by GC/MS in selected ion monitoring mode. The results showed that areas in the vicinity of the sewage outfalls were heavily contaminated. The western part of Kuwait Bay was worst in terms of contamination level. Two off-shore sites in Kuwait Bay were also classified as contaminated. Coprostanol levels in Kuwait Bay ranged from 0 to 39,428 ng/g. Southern coastal areas were less severely contaminated.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Management Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait. Electronic address: tsaeed@kisr.edu.kw.
authors.forename: Talat
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.affiliation: Environmental Management Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Al-Shimmari
authors.affiliation: Environmental Management Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Mutairi
authors.affiliation: Environmental Management Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Hameeda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdullah
mesh_terms: D004083:Cholestanol / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D007730:Kuwait; D012623:Seawater; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis*; D013261:Sterols / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances; D012722:Sewage; D013261:Sterols; D004083:Cholestanol
keywords: Assessment; Fecal sterols; GC/MS analysis; Sewage contamination; Surface sediments