title: Historic and contemporary contamination in the marine environment of Kuwait: An overview.
abstract: The rapid expansion of industry, along with previous pollution events linked to conflicts in the region, have led to a variety of contaminants being inadvertently or deliberately discharged into Kuwait's marine environment. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and trace metals, from the petrochemical industry, and contaminated brine from the region's desalination industries. The present paper has reviewed over 60 studies that have reported the levels of contaminants, including PAHs, metals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) present in seawater, sediment and representative marine organisms. Most of the reviewed literature confirmed that while Kuwait's marine environment has been subjected to a wide array of pollution events, the actual levels of contamination remains relatively low. However, sediment contamination hotspots associated with point sources of industrial contamination, such as originating from the Shuaiba industrial area, do exist at a number of locations around the coast.
authors.affiliation: Kuwait Environment Public Authority, P.O. Box 24395, Safat 13104, Kuwait; School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK. Electronic address: h.alsarawi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hanan A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Al-Sarawi
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Awadhesh N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Kuwait University, Faculty of Science, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Mohammad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Sarawi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Weymouth Laboratory, Barrack Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK.
authors.forename: Brett P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Lyons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005506:Food Contamination; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D007730:Kuwait; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D017747:Seafood; D012623:Seawater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D008628:Mercury; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Chemical contamination; Kuwait; Marine; Review