AN ASSESSMENT OF TOXIC METALS CONTENT IN THE MARINE-SEDIMENTS OF THE SHUAIBA INDUSTRIAL-AREA, KUWAIT, AFTER THE OIL-SPILL DURING THE GULF-WAR

A field study was carried out involving seven fixed sampling stations. The sampling locations were selected to cover the distribution of pol lutants in the Shuaiba Industrial Area (SIA), which was contaminated w ith oil released from oil wells and broken pipelines and with a vast a mount of burnt and unburnt crude oil from the burning and gushing oil wells. The samples were collected biweekly between July 1993 and July 1994. The concentrations of V, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb were determined and c ompared with the previously collected baseline data to assess the degr ee of environmental damage caused due to the oil spills during the Gul f war. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of various elements in the m arine sediment were 17.3 for V, 30.8 for Ni, 55.5 for Cr, 0.02 for Cd and 1.95 for Pb. Our results show that even after the heavy spillage o f oil, associated metal concentrations were not very high compared wit h previously reported base line values. Copyright (C) 1996 IAWQ.