Post-Gulf War assessment of the levels of PAHs in the sediments from Shuaiba Industrial Area, Kuwait Available to Purchase

Kuwait's marine environment was heavily impacted by the events following the Gulf War of 1991. A large spill originated in the area close to Shuaiba Industrial Area which was already polluted as a result of oil-related and industrial activities. The objective of this study was to assess the status of the marine sediments from this area for petroleum-related pollutants. The sediment samples were collected over a one year period from seven locations and were analyzed for their PAH contents. The results indicated that the samples of the first batch were relatively highly contaminated. The levels of PAHs showed a downward trend in the subsequent batches. Higher molecular weight PAHs constituted the bulk in most of the samples. The levels encountered were considerably higher than those reported for the samples collected from the same general area prior to the Gulf War.