Abstract
The total petroleum hydrocarbon content in surface water and sediment of Qua Iboe River, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was assessed by randomly collecting samples from five sampling points of the study area and from a control site. The samples were extracted with dichloromethane (DCM) by liquid-liquid partition for water and Soxhlet extraction for sediments followed by subsequent clean up on column chromatography and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for the determination of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The results showed variation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content from 90 to 250 μg/L in the water and 270 to 830 mg/kg in the sediments, with mean value of 168.33±59.29 μg/L and 606.83±229.48 mg/kg respectively. The average amount of TPH in the water samples collected from all the sampling points was generally lower than the EU standard limit of 300 μg/L. However, the levels in the sediments exceeded the EGASPIN target value (50 mg/kg) for mineral oil but were below the intervention value (5,000 mg/kg), this indicates a serious impact of oil industrial activities on the area. Hence, our findings have indicated evidence that Qua Iboe River is under pollution threat and underscore the need for early remediation if adverse health defects are to be prevented.Keywords: Total petroleum hydrocarbon, GC-FID, surface water, sediments
Highlights
Nigeria has been exploring and exploiting crude oil for decades and the consequences on the oil producing and processing areas have become highly problematic in the onshore and offshore installations (Atunbi, 2011)
Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) are a large family of several hundred chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil
In this study we report the total petroleum hydrocarbon contents in surface water and sediments of Qua Iboe River located in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, with a view on the pollution status
Summary
Nigeria has been exploring and exploiting crude oil for decades and the consequences on the oil producing and processing areas have become highly problematic in the onshore and offshore installations (Atunbi, 2011). The presence of chemical contaminants in the coastal environments from many anthropogenic sources is a major threat to the marine water (Charriau et al, 2009) Large amounts of these contaminants through sewage, petroleum spills, municipal and industrial discharges, automobile wastes and vehicular emission due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels are possibly carried by river runoffs through their estuaries into the sea (Kachel, 2008). Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the major pollutants which are frequently discharged into the coastal water, though not usually regulated as hazardous wastes (ATSDR, 1999) They are naturally present in very low concentration in the marine sediments, but larger amount comes from petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. In this study we report the total petroleum hydrocarbon contents in surface water and sediments of Qua Iboe River located in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, with a view on the pollution status
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