ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Microplastic Pollution in Marine Waters and Sediments of Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE
Abdulsalam Husain Al Hashmi 1,2
RAJASEKHAR THANKAMONY 2
Hamad Abdulla Al Hammadi 2
Thies Thiemann 3
1. United Arab Emirates University College of Engineering, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
2. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
3. United Arab Emirates University College of Science, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
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Abstract
This study investigates the prevalence and sources of microplastics (MPs, 300–5,000 µm) in the marine environment of Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE—an underexplored region with significant anthropogenic influence. Samples were collected from ten ecologically distinct site categories, including areas near oilfields, near desalination plants, port and marinas, aquaculture activities, public beaches, confined areas, newly developed areas, point sources, near offshore islands and natural habitats "Natural habitats" showed the lowest MP levels (3.33 particles/100 g sediment; 4.5 P/L water), while sites near oilfields, ports, and offshore islands had the highest (8.2–9.3 P/L water; 5.0–6.6 P/100 g sediment). A total of 1,493 MPs were characterized by size, shape, and color. Polymer analysis of 240 MPs identified acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (31%), cellulose acetate (27%), nylon-66 (20%), and PET (10%) as dominant types. Smaller MPs (100–300 µm) were also quantified at selected categories. Pollution Load Index (PLI) analysis, using natural habitats as a baseline, indicated the greatest anthropogenic impact near offshore oilfields and islands, highlighting spatial variations in MP contamination.
Summary
Keywords
Desalination plants, Microplastics, Natural habitats, Oilfields, pollutionload index, Seawater, sediment
Received
13 August 2025
Accepted
05 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Husain Al Hashmi, THANKAMONY, Abdulla Al Hammadi and Thiemann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: RAJASEKHAR THANKAMONY
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