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Microplastics in Kuwait marine environment: Results of first survey
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Researchers conducted the first survey of microplastic pollution in Kuwait's coastal marine environment, sampling beach sediments, surface trawls, and fish and mussel gastrointestinal contents, and found surprisingly low microplastic levels compared to other global regions. The study provides baseline data for an understudied Gulf region and identifies priorities for future monitoring.
Microplastic pollution status in Kuwait coastal areas was assessed A total of 44 intertidal locations were sampled for beach sediment. Short trawls (40) were conducted. In addition, 87 fish and mussels gastrointestinal contents were examined. Microplastics were characterized by Raman spectroscopy. Contrary to the expectation very few microplastic particles were found. Only 37 MPs were detected in beach sediments at 15 locations. Seawater trawls indicated that MPs were low in the numbers. MPs were found in just two samples from Kuwait Bay and also in two samples from the southern areas. In biota, only 3 pieces of plastics were recovered from gastrointestinal tracks of hamour fish. The identified MPs were dominantly polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. It appeared that the microplastic levels in sediment, water and biota were much lower compared to published values from adjoining areas, however, were comparable to the absolute numbers of particles from Qatar and Oman.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.