Contamination of the marine environment in Egypt and Saudi Arabia with personal protective equipment during COVID-19 pandemic: A short focus.

Autor: Hassan IA; Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21511 Moharem Bay, Alexandria. Egypt; National Scientific Committee of Problems in Environment (SCOPE), Academy of Scientific Research & Technology (ASRT), 101 Kasr Al-Ini Street, Cairo, Egypt. Electronic address: ibrahim.abdelmaged@alexu.edu.eg., Younis A; National Scientific Committee of Problems in Environment (SCOPE), Academy of Scientific Research & Technology (ASRT), 101 Kasr Al-Ini Street, Cairo, Egypt; Aquatic Environment Department, Faculty of Fish Resources, Suez University, Egypt., Al Ghamdi MA; Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia., Almazroui M; Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Research/Department of Meteorology, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80208, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Electronic address: mansour@kau.edu.sa., Basahi JM; Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia., El-Sheekh MM; Department of Botany & Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt., Abouelkhair EK; Biology Departments, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Egypt., Haiba NS; Department of Physics & Chemistry, Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, El Shatby, Alexandria. Egypt., Alhussaini MS; Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia., Hajjar D; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia., Abdel Wahab MM; National Scientific Committee of Problems in Environment (SCOPE), Academy of Scientific Research & Technology (ASRT), 101 Kasr Al-Ini Street, Cairo, Egypt; Department of Space science, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt., El Maghraby DM; Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21511 Moharem Bay, Alexandria. Egypt.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2022 Mar 01; Vol. 810, pp. 152046. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 29.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152046
Abstrakt: Plastic pollution and its impact on marine ecosystems are major concerns globally, and the situation was exacerbated after the outbreak of COVID-19. Clean-up campaigns took place during the summer season (June-August 2020) in two coastal cities in Egypt (Alexandria and Hurghada) and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to document the abundance of beach debris through public involvement, and then remove it. A total of 3673, 255, and 848 items were collected from Alexandria, Hurghada, and Jeddah daily, respectively. Gloves and face masks (personal protective equipment "PPE") represent represented 40-60% of the total plastic items collected from each of the three cities, while plastic bags represented 7-20% of the total plastics litter collected from the same cities. The results indicated the presence of 2.79, 0.29, and 0.86 PPE item m -2 in Alexandria, Hurghada and Jeddah, respectively. This short focus provides an assessment of the environmental impacts of single-use gloves and masks used for COVID-19 protection from June to August 2020. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first such information from the Middle East, specifically Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It highlights the need for further knowledge and action, such as safe, sustainable, and transparent waste management processes related to COVID-19 to reduce the negative impacts now, as well as in future events. Furthermore, this study helps in achieving key components of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This short focus can serve as a multipurpose document, not only for scientists of different disciplines but for social media and citizens in general.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We believe this subject is interesting and no data were published from Egypt or Saudi Arabia. We have the pleasure to submit this paper as a short communication. Having said that, I could not find a short communication option regarding the submission, so I have selected the nearest option. The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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