Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards

<p dir="ltr">Seawater is the major source of domestic water supply around the Arabian Gulf, namely the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Even though these countries have significantly improved regulating and protecting seawater, they still lack comprehensive “locally adapted...

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محفوظ في:
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Sophia Ghanimeh (17787575) (author)
مؤلفون آخرون: Mariam Dalloul (20838707) (author), Maryam Al-Naimi (22827416) (author), Fares Almomani (12585685) (author), Hassan Hassan (3240549) (author), Lucy Semerjian (11550283) (author), Aqil Tariq (14821097) (author)
منشور في: 2025
الموضوعات:
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author Sophia Ghanimeh (17787575)
author2 Mariam Dalloul (20838707)
Maryam Al-Naimi (22827416)
Fares Almomani (12585685)
Hassan Hassan (3240549)
Lucy Semerjian (11550283)
Aqil Tariq (14821097)
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author_facet Sophia Ghanimeh (17787575)
Mariam Dalloul (20838707)
Maryam Al-Naimi (22827416)
Fares Almomani (12585685)
Hassan Hassan (3240549)
Lucy Semerjian (11550283)
Aqil Tariq (14821097)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Sophia Ghanimeh (17787575)
Mariam Dalloul (20838707)
Maryam Al-Naimi (22827416)
Fares Almomani (12585685)
Hassan Hassan (3240549)
Lucy Semerjian (11550283)
Aqil Tariq (14821097)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-07-23T09:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.1007/s41748-025-00697-w
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Seawater_Pollution_in_the_Arabian_Gulf_Unveiling_Risks_and_the_Urgent_Need_for_Local_Standards/30859832
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Engineering
Environmental engineering
Arabian gulf seawater pollution
Marine water standards
Health risk analysis
Heavy metal pollution
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">Seawater is the major source of domestic water supply around the Arabian Gulf, namely the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Even though these countries have significantly improved regulating and protecting seawater, they still lack comprehensive “locally adapted” standards. From this perspective, this paper documents the risk of marine pollution in the Arabian Gulf, taking Qatari seawater as a case study. The seawater was analyzed for an extensive set of compounds, including Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, Pb, Ba, Be, Mn, Mo, Sb, Al, B, Co, Li, Sr, V, Ca, K, Mg, P, Na, and Fe. The risk associated with metal contamination was assessed using three indicators: Contamination Factor (CF) for the effect of individual metals, Ecological Risk Index (ERI) for the combined impact of metals, and Dermatological Chronic Daily Intake (CDI<sub>derm</sub>) for human health impact. The levels of the remaining tested components were benchmarked against seawater in other countries. Even though most metals do not pose a significant risk, Cu and Ni exhibited maximum CF values of 12 and 60, respectively, that exceed the high-risk threshold of 6. The ERI varied from no risk to considerable risk, with two samples showing elevated contamination with risk values of 15.9 and 25.3, indicating the presence of alarming polluting activities. This underscores the need for systematic monitoring, backed with fully developed seawater standards, feeding into national regulations and policy-making. This requires establishing background values that are specific to each GCC site and implementing real-time pollution tracking protocols. In addition, national pollution risk indicators shall be developed and enforced through environmental licensing and industrial discharge permitting requirements.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Earth Systems and Environment<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00697-w" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00697-w</a></p>
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network_acronym_str Manara2
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spelling Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local StandardsSophia Ghanimeh (17787575)Mariam Dalloul (20838707)Maryam Al-Naimi (22827416)Fares Almomani (12585685)Hassan Hassan (3240549)Lucy Semerjian (11550283)Aqil Tariq (14821097)EngineeringEnvironmental engineeringArabian gulf seawater pollutionMarine water standardsHealth risk analysisHeavy metal pollution<p dir="ltr">Seawater is the major source of domestic water supply around the Arabian Gulf, namely the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Even though these countries have significantly improved regulating and protecting seawater, they still lack comprehensive “locally adapted” standards. From this perspective, this paper documents the risk of marine pollution in the Arabian Gulf, taking Qatari seawater as a case study. The seawater was analyzed for an extensive set of compounds, including Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, Pb, Ba, Be, Mn, Mo, Sb, Al, B, Co, Li, Sr, V, Ca, K, Mg, P, Na, and Fe. The risk associated with metal contamination was assessed using three indicators: Contamination Factor (CF) for the effect of individual metals, Ecological Risk Index (ERI) for the combined impact of metals, and Dermatological Chronic Daily Intake (CDI<sub>derm</sub>) for human health impact. The levels of the remaining tested components were benchmarked against seawater in other countries. Even though most metals do not pose a significant risk, Cu and Ni exhibited maximum CF values of 12 and 60, respectively, that exceed the high-risk threshold of 6. The ERI varied from no risk to considerable risk, with two samples showing elevated contamination with risk values of 15.9 and 25.3, indicating the presence of alarming polluting activities. This underscores the need for systematic monitoring, backed with fully developed seawater standards, feeding into national regulations and policy-making. This requires establishing background values that are specific to each GCC site and implementing real-time pollution tracking protocols. In addition, national pollution risk indicators shall be developed and enforced through environmental licensing and industrial discharge permitting requirements.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Earth Systems and Environment<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00697-w" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00697-w</a></p>2025-07-23T09:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.1007/s41748-025-00697-whttps://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Seawater_Pollution_in_the_Arabian_Gulf_Unveiling_Risks_and_the_Urgent_Need_for_Local_Standards/30859832CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/308598322025-07-23T09:00:00Z
spellingShingle Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
Sophia Ghanimeh (17787575)
Engineering
Environmental engineering
Arabian gulf seawater pollution
Marine water standards
Health risk analysis
Heavy metal pollution
status_str publishedVersion
title Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
title_full Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
title_fullStr Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
title_full_unstemmed Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
title_short Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
title_sort Seawater Pollution in the Arabian Gulf: Unveiling Risks and the Urgent Need for Local Standards
topic Engineering
Environmental engineering
Arabian gulf seawater pollution
Marine water standards
Health risk analysis
Heavy metal pollution