Metal pollution in sediments has long been recognized, while sediments are also a long-term sink for microplastics (MPs). MPs may also adsorb environmental pollutants, including metals, as well as leaching polymer components and chemicals used during production. A comprehensive survey of 21 locations around Qatari coastline investigated abundance of MPs in high-shore intertidal sediments and concentration of metals both on MPs and sediment particles. MPs abundance ranged from 3 to 156 MPs particles·kg^-1 (12-624 MPs particles·m^-2) with polyethylene being the most abundant (27.4 %). MPs showed physical morphologies, with 76 % displayed signs of chemical degradation as confirmed by the carbonyl absorption peak profile, possibly due to exposure to harsh environmental conditions on the Arabian Gulf shores. Most metals analyzed were found at higher concentrations in sediments than the same metals adsorbed to MPs. The average metal concentration ranged from 0.26 (Cd) to 3122.62 μg∙g^-1 (Sr) in sediments while 0.22 (Mo) to 30.26 μg∙g^-1 (Sr) in MPs. The calculated metal Pollution Load Index (Sed PLI, range 0.57-2.38) for sediments indicates unpolluted to moderately polluted levels, while the Potential Ecological Risk Index (Sed PERI, range 6.9-2220) indicates a relatively considerable ecological risk for metal pollution in sediments in some of the coastal areas surveyed. PLI values calculated for metals associated with MPs (MPs PLI, range 1.1-7.5), suggests relatively moderate pollution, while the PERI for metals in MPs (MPs PERI, range 25.2-1811) has similar ecological risk in terms of metal pollutants in MPs as for sediments. This may be effective in providing relative spatial indices of pollution load and risk for metals associated with MPs, which could potentially inform establishment of an appropriate assessment framework, where MPs are increasingly abundant in coastal sediments. However, this does not account for the relatively lower abundance of MPs compared to sediments.

Balancing the needs of current and future generations stimulates investment for sustainable development such as converting waste biomass into biorenewables. Sugar-based ethanol production is a well-investigated and established process, and researchers are now focusing on the transformation of cellulosic biomass to sugar and the application of non-conventional methods for ethanol production. The State of Qatar generates date palm fruit waste of approximately 4505 tons annually, excluding ornamental palms and palms outside the farms that bear nonmarketable date fruits. Date fruit molasses contains fermentable sugars, representing 75% of the total fruit mass, which can offer a good source for bioethanol production through anaerobic fermentation and distillation. On this basis, the valorization of waste date fruits can be an effective zero-waste strategy via biotransformation into bio-renewable materials, hence, contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. This paper reviews the potentials and challenges for the utilization of waste date fruits as a bioethanol source and assesses the abundance of waste date fruits as raw material for the conventional bioethanol conversion process. The review also identified conventional and nonconventional processes for bioethanol production and their applicability to Qatar. Finally, this confirmed ample demand for bioethanol ranging from fuel and industrial chemicals to pharmaceutical alcohol.

The current study aimed to gauge total mercury (THg) concentration and the environmental geochemical indices in tarmat contaminated sediments and test their presence in targeted coastal species. Layers of hard asphalt-like tarmats and sediment samples were collected from 34 sites along the coast of Qatar. The mean concentration of THg in tarmat-sediment mixture is 89 ± 20 ng·g^-1. THg concentration varies significantly between the northern and eastern coasts. Geographically, sampling area were divided into four zones according to the relative closeness with low to serious potential ecological risk index (E_r), moderate pollution load index (PLI), moderate Geoaccumulation index (I_geo), and no toxic risk (TRI) trending as Northern (Zones 4, 3) > North-Eastern (Zone 1) > Western (Zone 2) coasts. Three biota classes (Gastropoda, Bivalvia, and Crustacea) were sampled on the tarmat which the hermit crab (Clibanarius signatus) from Ras Rakan island obtained the highest THg (977 ng·g^-1) and BSAF (29.70).

The issue of plastic pollution in the marine environment is of increasing global concern. As plastics typically have an intrinsic durability, water insolubility and slow degradation rates, debris has now become both ubiquitous and persistent in the marine environment. Overtime, plastic ultimately result in the generation of microplastics via photolytic, thermal and biological degradation processes. Although the potential threat of microplastics on marine ecosystems is well recognized, there is no baseline data available for the Arabian Gulf. The Environmental Science Center of Qatar University has now documented the first evidence for the prevalence of microplastics within the Arabian Gulf, specifically in the marine waters of Qatar Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Qatar has an arid climate and is situated midway along the western coast of the semi-enclosed Arabian Gulf. Qatar's coastline is particularly susceptible to marine debris due to the county's rapid urbanization and economic development. Surface seawater samples were collected from 12 stations during May 2015 research cruise of the RV Janan. An optimized and validated protocol was developed for the extraction of microplastics from plankton-rich samples without loss of microplastics present. Plankton present in seawater samples may readily mask the identification of microplastics and lead to an underestimation of the quantity of microplastics present. The protocol involved sample digestion using solutions of 1M NaOH, 10M NaOH, and 16M HNO ₃ in conjunction at different temperatures. Twenty mL of each solution was spiked with known quantities of reference polymer pellets, of varying diameters (63 μm to 4.70 mm) and used to digest the plankton biomass. The use of 1M NaOH proved to be a more efficient digestion treatment than 10M NaOH and 16M HNO ₃ solutions. Although 10M NaOH, and 16M HNO ₃ have been proven effective to mineralize plankton biomass, these solutions also resulted in some structural damage and discoloration of reference polymers with a low pH tolerance: polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene, and nylon. After extraction, the microplastics were characterized using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. In total 30 microplastics were isolated from the mineralized samples, with an average concentration of 0.71 particles m ^− 3 (range 0–3 particles m ^− 3 ). Nine out of 30 were identified as polypropylene, with the majority either granular, sizes ranging from 125 μm to 1.82 mm, or fibrous, sizes from 150 μm to 15.98 mm. Microplastics were more prevalent in areas where nearby anthropogenic activities, including oil-rig installations and shipping operations, are present.