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

Ibrahim A Hassan; Alaa Younis; Mansour A Al Ghamdi; Mansour Almazroui; Jalal M Basahi; Mostafa M El-Sheekh; Emad K Abouelkhair; Nesreen S Haiba; Mohammed S Alhussaini; Dina Hajjar; Magdy M Abdel Wahab; Dahlia M El Maghraby

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152046

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

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 1:810:152046. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152046. Epub 2021 Nov 29.

Affiliations

¹ 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.
² 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.
³ Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ 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.
⁵ Department of Botany & Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
⁶ Biology Departments, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Physics & Chemistry, Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, El Shatby, Alexandria. Egypt.
⁸ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21511 Moharem Bay, Alexandria. Egypt.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; Marine ecosystems; Personal protective equipment (PPE); Plastic pollution; Volunteers.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Ecosystem
Egypt / epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics
Personal Protective Equipment*
Plastics
SARS-CoV-2
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology

Substances

Plastics