title: Screening for contaminant hotspots in the marine environment of Kuwait using ecotoxicological and chemical screening techniques.
abstract: Kuwait is a country with low rainfall and highly concentrated industrial and domestic effluents entering its coastal waters. These can be both treated and untreated. In this study we sampled a series of coastal and open-sea sites and used a variety of analyses to identify those sites requiring the most attention. We used a high throughput GC-MS screen to look for over 1000 chemicals in the samples. Estrogen and androgen screens assessed the potential to disrupt endocrine activity. An oyster embryo development screen was used to assess biological effect potential. The chemical screen identified sites which had high numbers of identified industrial and domestic chemicals. The oyster screen showed that these sites had also caused high levels of developmental abnormalities with 100% of embryos affected at some sites. The yeast screen showed that estrogenic chemicals were present in outfalls at 2-3 ng/l E2 equivalent, and detectable even in some open water sites.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK. Electronic address: Andy.smith@cefas.co.uk.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McGowan
authors.affiliation: James Cook University, Catchment Reef Research Group, TropWater, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.affiliation: Kuwait Environment Public Authority, P.O. Box 24395, Safat 13104, Kuwait.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Massoud
authors.affiliation: Kuwait Environment Public Authority, P.O. Box 24395, Safat 13104, Kuwait.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Enezi
authors.affiliation: Kuwait Environment Public Authority, P.O. Box 24395, Safat 13104, Kuwait.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Zaidan
authors.affiliation: Kuwait Environment Public Authority, P.O. Box 24395, Safat 13104, Kuwait.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Al-Sarawi
authors.affiliation: Cefas, Weymouth laboratory, Barrack Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Lyons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D004703:Endocrine System / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D007730:Kuwait; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Effluent; Endocrine disruption; GC–MS; Kuwait; Marine; Oyster embryo