Effects Of Oil Pollution Research Articles

Responses of nematodes to oil contamination in a mangrove sediment: A microcosm study

The effects of oil pollution on nematode assemblages were investigated in a mangrove sediment. Microcosms comprised 350 mL plastic jars filled with 250 g sediment. In the oiled treatments (O), 15 mL oil were added to the soil. In the oil and fertiliser treatments (O + F), oil and fertiliser (N: P: K: 3: 2: 5) were added to the soil. After four weeks, nematodes were extracted and identified. The number of nematode taxa was highest in the C (61), intermediate in the O + F (59) and significantly lower in the O (25) treatment. Taxa present in the C but absent in the O treatment were oil-intolerant. Taxa present in the O treatments were oil-tolerant. Five taxa survived oiling probably due to fertiliser amendment. Oiling eliminated oil-intolerant taxa and favoured those that were resistant. In the O+ F treatment, the number and species of nematodes increased significantly.

The Effect of Oil Pollution on the Engineering Properties of Construction Soils in Some Selected Oil Region of Nigeria: A Case Study of Four Oil Towns in Rivers and Delta States

The nature of subgrade as well as basic information of soils for construction purposes is important for engineers, especially civil engineers and the general public. The primary aim of this research work is therefore to access the effect of oil spillage on the engineering properties of soils around the oil producing states of Nigeria. Four communities in two state of the Niger- Delta region of Nigeria were selected for investigation. These communities include Alesa (as sample A) and Aleto (as sample B) in Rivers state and Elume (as sample C) and Mereje (as sample D) in Delta state of the Niger- Delta region of Nigeria. Soil samples from these communities were collected at the subgrade depth of the oil spilled soils and was later subjected to laboratory examination. Important soil properties that were evaluated through laboratory investigation include soil shear strength test using triaxial test where the shear strength parameters were determined to enable evaluation of soil bearing capacity using Terzaghi’s equations. Others include soil strength (CBR) test, soil permeability test, and soil classification test as well as soil compressibility tests or one dimensional consolidation test. The results show that the oil pollution/ spillage have affected the engineering properties of construction soils in the four towns investigated to some degrees. The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of the subgrade, the Coefficient of Volume Compressibility,Mv, the Safe Bearing Capacity and the Coefficient of Permeability, K of the investigated soil , all fall below the accepted standard limit for soils to be used for construction purposes. This result will hopefully add to the existing knowledge as well as equipping the government and other relevant agencies for policy and regulatory development for the oil and gas, and construction industries for the sustenance of economic development in Nigeria. Therefore, before any meaningful civil engineering construction works can be done in these communities, the soils within the area will have to be subjected to series of engineering soil tests so as to equip the government and other interesting stakeholders with the requisite knowledge on how to apply appropriate soil remediation and soil stabilization techniques.

Ecological and agricultural assessment of the state of forage lands of boreal river floodplains in the oil-producing region (case study in the floodplain of the Kolva River, Usinsky district, Komi Republic)

Floodplain forage lands of the Pechora basin (Usinsky district of the Komi Republic) are experiencing a complex anthropogenic impact associated with both agricultural activity and pollution with petroleum products coming with flood waters. An ecological and agricultural assessment of the soil-vegetation cover of the Kolva floodplain used as hayfield (right-bank part) and pasture (left-bank part) was carried out. Soil combinations of the main part of the surveyed floodplain include alluvial sod, sod-meadow and meadow soils. Morphological signs of gley formation in meadow soils are observed in the lower part of the soil profile and are expressed moderately. Soils are characterized generally by favorable agrochemical and morphological properties, with the exception of areas subjected to pasture digression. The vegetation cover of the central and near-river part of the floodplain massif of the right bank is mainly represented by legume-cereal-grass communities formed both in inter-ridge depressions and on flat ridges. On the high floodplain of the left bank, legume-cereal-grass meadows, grass-clover and tufted hairgrass meadows are common, horsetail–butterbur, clover-cereal and cereal communities are common in the near-river part of the left bank. Despite the relatively high productivity and the presence of valuable forage species of cereals and legumes, the qualitative characteristics of hay deviate from optimal ones due to the participation of low-nutritious, unattractive, weedy and poisonous species in the herbage. On the pasture, as a result of pasture digression, there is a decrease in species diversity with the dominance of tufted hairgrass and low-value species of various grasses. In the most disturbed areas, the total projective vegetation coverage is reduced to 50%. The soil cover of the studied territory of the Kolva floodplain is currently not contaminated with hydrocarbons, with the exception of a few spots of petroleum products with a total area of 6 m2. The effect of oil pollution on the vegetation cover of the Kolva floodplain is not manifested. Background values of the content of petroleum products in soils are slightly higher in the left-bank part compared to the right-bank part.

The effect of oil pollution on community structure of benthic macro ‎invertebrates in the northwest of the Persian Gulf ‎ ‎(Case study: Jafari creek)‎

<p>This study evaluates the contamination levels of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons in Jafari ‎Creek sediments and the effect of these pollutions on Macrobenthos in 2017. Studies to understand ‎the effect of heavy metal Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, Lead, Selenium, Zinc, Copper, and ‎Vanadium, and 16 hydrocarbon compounds, organic material, and soil texture on the population of ‎Jafari Creek Macrobenthos in five stations along the estuary and analyzed using standard ‎procedures. The 4 identified Macrobenthos included Bivalvia with 9 species, Gastropoda with 8 ‎species, Crustacea with 7 species, and Polychaeta with 6 species totaling Macrobenthos 3645.14 per ‎square meter. The dominant class was Polychaetes (53.9%), followed by Bivalvia (23.2%), ‎Gastropoda (9.93%), and Crustaceans (15.8%), with slightly different (P<0.05), were in the second ‎and third class. Among the studied metals, zinc, chromium, and nickel had the highest ‎concentration. Among the hydrocarbons, Anthracene at station 1, Fluorene at station 2, ‎Phenanthrene and Dibenzo [A, H] Anthracene at station 3, and Fluoranthene at station 4 with a ‎concentration between <0.01- 0.091 ppm had the highest value. The highest and lowest heavy metal ‎concentrations were measured at station 4 (215.54 ± 14.58 ppm) and station 1 (102.39 ± 24.15 ‎ppm), respectively. In return, stations 1 (0.339 ± 0.074 ppm) and 4 (0.196 ± 0.078 ppm) had the ‎highest and lowest concentration of hydrocarbons, respectively. Regarding the number of identified ‎Macrobenthos, stations 3 and 2, with 1738.64 and 333.28 n/m2 had the highest and lowest numbers, ‎respectively. The class of Crustacea had a positive correlation with zinc, copper, and lead metal and ‎a negative correlation with Selenium. Polychaeta was positively correlated with cadmium and ‎vanadium. Gastropoda had a negative correlation with vanadium and chromium, a positive ‎correlation with lead and hydrocarbons, and Bivalvia correlated negatively with lead and zinc and ‎had a correlation with vanadium. Considering that the areas around Jafari Creek are an industrial, ‎petrochemical, and economic region considered one of the important catchments in the province of ‎Khuzestan, the sediments, water, and animal tissues must be periodically the analysis of heavy ‎metals and oil hydrocarbons should be considered.‎</p>

Features of the functioning of microbiocenoses of cultivated soddy-podzolic soil under conditions of oil pollution

The study goal was to explore the characteristics of the functioning of microbiocenoses of well-cultivated soddy-podzolic soil, contaminated with doses of oil under the conditions of a field experiment. The level of initial pollution with petroleum products was in percentage: 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0. Sampling for laboratory research was carried out 14 days, 6 and 18 months after the oil spill. To assess the activity of the microbiota under conditions of soil self-purification from oil pollution, integral indicators were chosen. 1. The amount of carbon dioxide released from the soil, the so-called basal respiration, corresponds to the complete destruction of oil (to CO2 and H2O) by soil microorganisms. 2. The medium-regulating (regulatory) microorganisms’ activity, which is defined as the biological response of the soil to a disruption of chemical balance, was assessed by the quantity of CO2 release after 1% glucose addition. The oil products content was defined in real time mode. Soil microbiocenoses were highly perseverant to the inhibitory effects of oil pollution. Disturbances in the normal functioning of the microbiota as a result of oil pollution were non-critical and reversible. Half-year after the oil spill, at all levels of pollution, there was a sharp increase in basal respiration. Its level exceeded the respiration rate of clean soil several-fold. This indicated the high biochemical activity of hydrocarbon-oxidizing resident microbiota and as a result an active self-cleaning of soil from oil pollution. The negative dynamics of the petroleum products content proved the microbial character of the oil destruction processes in the soil.

Effect of Oil Pollution on Soil Microorganisms and Plants Lepidium Sativum

The impact of oil on soil microorganisms and watercress plants was assessed. Changes in the structure of the microbial community in oil-contaminated soils and morphological and physiological parameters of watercress plants are shown. It was revealed that high concentrations of oil in the soil lead to serious disturbances of the microbial community and inhibition of biochemical processes in plants, which is confirmed by the inhibition of the growth and development of watercress plants. However, low concentrations of petroleum oil, on the contrary, stimulate the growth of watercress plants. It is concluded that the presented experiments are necessary for the purpose of full and versatile testing of the toxicity of petroleum products on various living organisms and analysis of the nature of their responses.

Effects of oil pollution on birds

As a non-renewable energy source, oil has an unshakable position in the development of human beings. Still, no one has noticed that the oil buried deep in the ground is also inextricably linked to the birds flying in the air. This article focuses on how oil, except diet, has been linked to bird deaths. The first research direction is to study the feather structure and function of birds. It is concluded that oil will damage the functionality of feathers and make the feathers of birds unable to function. The second research direction is about the inversely proportional relationship between the flight speed of birds and oil and the directly proportional relationship between energy consumption and oil. It is concluded that oil will affect the speed and energy consumption of birds and make birds more vulnerable to predation by natural enemies. The third research direction is the analysis of the damage degree of oil to birds' eggs and young. Based on these studies, it is possible to find out feasible methods that can effectively reduce the harm of oil extraction operations to birds without affecting normal human activities. Let birds have a way to reproduce healthily and safely without hindering human development.

Coral skeletons reveal the impacts of oil pollution on seawater chemistry in the northern South China Sea

Oil pollution can release trace metals (TMs) with cumulative toxicity into seawater, harming marine ecosystems in the long term. However, the lack of studies has inhibited our understanding of the effects and mechanisms of oil pollution on TMs in seawater. Hence, we investigated the 10-year monthly variation of TMs in Porites coral skeletons from the northern South China Sea (SCS), complemented by spatial distribution of TMs in seawater, sediments and characterization of TMs in fuel oil. The results of principal component-multivariate linear regression showed that the total contribution of oil pollution as a source to TMs in surface seawater was 77.2%, where the residence time of TMs (Ni, V, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Fe, and Mo) released from oil spills in surface seawater was approximately 1.4 months. Due to the geochemical nature of the metals, their seasonal variations are controlled by tropical cyclones (Ni, V, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Fe, and Mo), winter monsoons (Pb, Cd, Ba, and Zn) and sea surface temperature (Sr). This study shows that coral skeletons can be used as a new tool to study marine oil pollution. This provides valuable reference data for accurately identifying and quantifying the effects of oil pollution on TMs in seawater from a spatial and temporal perspective.

Effect of Oil Pollution on the Antioxidant Activity of the Methanolic Extracts of Polluted and Unpolluted Leaves of Hyptis suaveolens (L)

Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit, an aromatic weed known as pignut or daddoya-ta-daji in the Hausa language, has a longstanding history of usage as food and medicine in Kaduna state. This plant is interestingly found thriving in environments with or without oil pollution. In our modern industrial society, it's practically inevitable that these medicinal plants come in contact with oil contamination. This is largely because oil pipelines, often aged and susceptible to corrosion or illicit activities leading to leakages, are scattered across urban and rural settlements, influencing the plants' phytochemical composition. This study is focused on examining if oil pollution alters the antioxidant activity of this plant. An evaluation of the antioxidant properties of methanol extracts from Hyptis suaveolens (L.) leaves, both from polluted and unpolluted areas, was carried out using the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. The outcomes showed that the extracts have significant (p < 0.05) concentration-dependent antioxidant activity. Yet, the unpolluted H. suaveolens leaves' methanol extract exhibited superior DPPH radical scavenging action compared to the extract from the polluted leaves. The median inhibitory concentrations (IC50) for the polluted and unpolluted leaves' methanol extracts were 35 µg/ml and 20 µg/ml respectively. Therefore, the contamination had a detrimental impact on the plant extract's antioxidant capacity.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR CLEANING OIL-CONTAMINATED SOILS BASED ON BIOMATERIALS

Currently, one of the modern priority tasks for Environmental Protection is the search for highly efficient oil and oil product sorbents. Purpose: to research the sorption properties of biomass in the process of cleaning soils contaminated with petroleum products. In this article, the sorption properties of natural materials – rice husks and reeds, a s well as waste from the woodworking industry – sawdust used to clean oil-contaminated soil were studied. When cleaning oil-contaminated soil, it was found that sawdust, reeds, rice husks can be presented as sorbent. Multicomponent systems from the above-mentioned plant waste have shown the prospect of their use as environmentally friendly materials for cleaning up the consequences of oil pollution. In the model system, they sorbed more than 70% of the hydrocarbons introduced into the system. Such complex sorbents have shown the possibility of their reuse. The influence of oil pollution of the soil on various groups of biomass of types of residues of plant raw materials has been studied. The stimulating effect of oil and petroleum products on the development of sorbents is shown, and the mechanism of their development process is constructed. The results of the analysis of the sorption of hydrocarbons in sorbents are presented. A good agreement of the obtained model with experimental data is shown. The model well describes the behavior of the sorption properties of biomass in oil-contaminated soil. Creation of sorption technology for oil-contaminated soil purification using natural sorbents. The degree of influence of the research results on the scientific and technical level is significant, since the issues of using various carbon composite materials for soil purification of petroleum products will be resolved, which will allow obtaining the most effective method of improving soil structural aggregates and preserving soil fertility. The results of the study are aimed at potential consumers in the oil and gas, petrochemical, biotechnological and environmental environment, which provides a qualitative solution to urgent socio-economic, scientific and technical problems for the development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Effect of Oil Pollution of the Gray Soils on Revegetation in the South of Kazakhstan

The Effect of Oil Pollution of the Gray Soils on Revegetation in the South of Kazakhstan

The activity of lysosomal enzymes in organs of the White Sea mussel Mytilus edulis L. under crude oil impact in different salinity conditions

The effect of the toxicant on the activity of lysosomal hydrolases in organs of the White Sea mussels Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus 1758) was studied in aquatic experiments simulating a crude oil spill in the tidal zone. The mollusks were exposed for 1, 5 and 10 days to three pollutant concentrations (0.05; 0.25, and 2.50 ml/l). The impact of oil pollution was studied in combination with salinity normal for White Sea surface water (25 ‰) and low (15 ‰), which corresponds to reality during oil spills on the coast and in estuaries. We determined the activity of six lysosomal enzymes (acid phosphatase, RNase, DNase, β-glucosidase, β-galactosidase, and β-glucuronidase) in the gills and hepatopancreas. Both factors (sea water desalination and oil impact) had a significant effect on the activity of acid hydrolases. The most pronounced lysosomal reaction to oil appeared in the gills under normal salinity at 0.25 ml/l concentration and exposure for 10 days, as evidenced by a several-fold increase in the activity of acid phosphatase, DNase, β-galactosidase, and β-glucuronidase compared to the control. In the hepatopancreas, the same dependence in enzyme activity was noted, but to a lesser extent. Seawater desalination to 15 ‰ in the control caused a slight increase in the activity of DNase, β-galactosidase, and β-glucuronidase in the gills, while the effect for the hepatopancreas was insignificant. The combined effect of desalination and oil pollution somewhat reduced the protective functions of the lysosomal apparatus in mussels organs, which was especially noticeable at high oil concentrations and prolonged exposure of mollusks to experimental conditions. Thus, the results of the study demonstrate active participation of the lysosomal apparatus of the gills and hepatopancreas of mollusks in the adaptive responses to the combined effects of oil pollution and low water salinity. Compensatory changes in the activity of the enzyme complex of lysosomes are aimed at the utilization, transformation and excretion of oil components from the body, elimination of the structures and macromolecules damaged by the toxicant, as well as maintaining the vital activity of the organism under adverse conditions.

Analysis of Oil Pollution Intensity in Niger-delta, Nigeria Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

There has been an increase in the level of oil spillage across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria since the advent of crude oil exploration. The effects of oil pollution cannot be overemphasized, as it is not only detrimental to human health but also to the ecosystem at large. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are veritable tools in Environmental management. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was used as GIS and RS tools to determine the intensity of pollution caused by oil spillage in the Niger Delta area for the past decade (2010-2020). The land sat imageries of the study area were acquired and NDVI analyses were performed. Five NDVI types were used with the equation NDVI=(NIR-Red)/(NIR+Red). The total land mass covered was 109,582 sq.Km. The results showed that in 2010, Healthy Vegetation was 37,352 sq. Km, which was 34 percent of the total land mass. In 2015, Poor Health vegetation accounted for the highest land mass with a total of 41,976 sq. Km, while Moderate Health Vegetation had the lowest land mass of 12,830 sq.Km. In 2020, Poor Health Vegetation accounted for the highest land mass of 38,324 sq.Km representing 35 Percent of the total land mass while Increasing Vegetation had 13,452 sq.Km with 12 Percent making it the lowest NDVI type for the year.
 From the results, there was evidence showing of increased Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) negative values across the years in the study area. This was an indication of the high level of pollution.
 There is a need to mitigate oil spillage to its barest minimum in the study area.

Do global environmental drivers' ocean acidification and warming exacerbate the effects of oil pollution on the physiological energetics of Scylla serrata?

Global climate change-induced ocean warming and acidification have complex reverberations on the physiological functioning of marine ectotherms. The Sundarbans estuarine system has been under threat for the past few decades due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. In recent years, petroleum products' transportation and their usage have increased manifold, which causes accidental oil spills. The mud crab (Scylla serrata) is one of the most commercially exploited species in the Sundarbans. The key objective of this study was to delineate whether rearing under global environmental drivers (ocean acidification and warming) exacerbates the effect of a local driver (oil pollution) on the physiological energetics of mud crab (Scylla serrata) from the Sundarbans estuarine system. Animals were reared separately for 30days under (a) the current climatic scenario (pH 8.1, 28°C) and (b) the predicted climate change scenario (pH 7.7, 34°C). After rearing for 30days, 50% of the animals from each treatment were exposed to 5mg L-1 of marine diesel oil for the next 24h. Physiological energetics (ingestion rate, absorption rate, respiration rate, excretion rate, and scope for growth), thermal performance, thermal critical maxima (CTmax), acclimation response ratio (ARR), Arrhenius activation energy (AAE), temperature coefficient (Q10), warming tolerance (WT), and thermal safety margin (TSM) were evaluated. Ingestion and absorption rates were significantly reduced, whereas respiration and ammonia excretion rates significantly increased in stressful treatments, resulting in a significantly lower scope for growth. A profound impact on thermal performance was also noticed, leading to a downward shift in CTmax value for stress-acclimated treatment. The present results clearly highlighted the detrimental combined effect of global climatic stressors and pollution on the physiological energetics of crabs that might potentially reduce their population and affect coastal aquaculture in forthcoming years.

Research advances in the impacts of oil pollutants on birds and the cleaning and repairing techniques

Oil and its pollutants, which enter environment through natural oil seepage and many human activities, have considerable impacts on birds. We summarized the research advances in how oil pollutants influence birds and the cleaning technology of polluted birds and their habitats. The toxicity and destruction to feather structure are the major impacts of oil pollution on birds. Oil pollution can lead to birds' death, and also produce many chronic harms, including causing hemolytic anemia, reducing their immunity, disrupting thermal insulation and waterproo-fing performance of feather. It is an important way to reduce the impacts of oil pollution on birds by timely cleaning up the oil in bird habitats as well as carrying out the clean and repair work to the polluted birds. As a big oil-consuming country, China has been left behind by foreign countries in the studies of the effects of oil pollution on birds. More attention should be paid on the short-term and long-term impacts of oil pollution on birds and the cleaning and remediation technologies of the polluted birds and their habitats.

Effects of oil pollution on soil microbial diversity in the Loess hilly areas, China

PurposeData support and theoretical basis for bioremediation and treatment of petroleum-contaminated soils in the Loess hills of Yan’an, northern Shaanxi.MethodsThe evolutionary characteristics of soil microbial diversity and community structure under different levels of oil pollution were studied by field sampling, indoor simulation experiments, and analyzed through assays, using the mine soils from Yan’an, Shaanxi Province, as the research object.ResultsCompared with clean soil, the microbial species in contaminated soil were significantly reduced, the dominant flora changed, and the flora capable of degrading petroleum pollutants increased significantly. The soil microbial diversity and community structure differed, although not significantly, between different pollution levels, but significantly from clean soil. In the uncontaminated soil (CK), the dominant soil microbial genera were mainly Pantoea, Sphingomonas, Thiothrix, and Nocardioides. The abundance of Pseudomonas, Pedobacter, Massilia, Nocardioides, and Acinetobacter in the soil increased after oil contamination, while Thiothrix, Sphingomonas, and Gemmatimonas decreased significantly.ConclusionsAfter the soil was contaminated with petroleum, the microbial species in the soil decreased significantly, the dominant genera in the soil changed, and the relative abundance of bacteria groups capable of degrading petroleum pollutants increased. The genera that can degrade petroleum pollutants in the petroleum-contaminated soil in the study area mainly include Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Pedobacter, Acinetobacter, and Nocardioides, which provide a scientific basis for exploring It provides a scientific basis for exploring remediation methods suitable for petroleum-contaminated soil in this region.

Índice nematodo/copépodo y las abundancias de nematodos y copépodos como bioindicadores de contaminación: un meta-análisis

Meiofauna has been considered a suitable group for monitoring pollution effects. Based on different pollution tolerance, a nematode/copepod ratio was proposed as an easy tool for monitoring the effect of anthropogenic activities. Although the validity of this tool has been subject to debate due to controversial results, it is still widely used. To establish a general pattern in the response of the ratio and nematode and copepod abundances to the effects of organic enrichment, oil pollution and metal enrichment in the marine environment, we conducted a global-scale meta-analysis. The database consisted of 715 pairs of data obtained from 46 studies published during the last 39 years. We could not find a general trend in the response of nematode and copepod abundances to these pollutants. Regarding the ratio, the only significant difference we found is under the effect of oil pollution. However, this difference appears to be an artifact due to publication bias. The information gathered in this study suggests that the ratio and mean abundances are not reliable tools for monitoring purposes.

Monitoring of oil spill in the offshore zone of the Nile Delta using Sentinel data

This study aims to monitor and map the oil spills which occurred from 2019 to 2021 along the northeastern portion of the Nile Delta using Sentinel-1 (SAR) and Sentinel-2 (MSI) data. The examination of VV polarized SAR-C images displayed the presence of the oil spills as dark spots of different sizes. These images were processed using the oil spills detection model in SNAP Toolbox. The oceanographic parameters that may influence the dispersal of oil spills were mapped using GIS technique. This study identified 29 oil spills during the study period in the research area. The largest spill was detected on February 23, 2019, and covered an area of about 10.5 km2. The band ratios and decorrelation stretch methods of available Sentinel-2 data confirmed the results of SAR-C data. The accuracy assessment of spills was achieved using Parallelepiped supervised classification model. The results demonstrated that the overall accuracy (OA) and Kappa coefficient (KC) for seawater, land, and oil spills classes were between 86% and 98% and 0.73% and 0.97%, respectively. The sensitivity zone of oil spills was higher in winter than in summer. This study proved the efficiency of VV polarized data of Sentinel-1 sensor for detection and mapping of oil spills. Several management strategies are needed in the offshore zone of the Nile Delta to limit oil pollution effects on the marine environment.

Geospatial Synthesis of Biogeochemical Attributions of Porphyrins to Oil Pollution in Marine Sediments of the Gulf of México

Porphyrins are highly persistent in the environment and represent a helpful biogeochemical attribute to assess the spatial distribution of the effects of oil spills on ecosystems and their resilience. In areas prone to natural and human-originated oil spills, the measurement of VO– and nickel–porphyrins in marine–sediment samples can identify the effects of oil pollution across spatiotemporal scales. The goal is to explore whether or not these compounds can be useful indicators of the geospatial attributions of oil contamination in the surficial sediments. We hypothesize that the geospatial gradients of porphyrins in marine sediments from petroleum spills and seepage activities—related to traditional indices of oil pollution, such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—can be identified in small sediment samples and concentrations. The objectives are two-fold: (1) extract and measure VO– and nickel–porphyrins from small marine sediment samples using high-pressure liquid chromatography, and (2) use cluster analysis and the canonical correlation analysis to identify the biogeochemical and geospatial attributions between VO–porphyrins and another index of oil pollution extracted and analyzed from sediments of the Campeche Shelf, in the Gulf of Mexico. High-pressure liquid chromatography with diode array detectors, two inverse phase columns and an isocratic separation method, was used to analyze the marine sediments. We identified 5.1 ng/g to 240.3 ng/g to VO–porphyrins concentrations with gradients toward areas identified as potential sources of oil pollution. Similar patterns were present for nickel–porphyrins, with values two orders of magnitude below those for the VO–porphyrins. The results represent a valuable opportunity to measure the biomarkers associated with oil pollution in small sediment samples. Furthermore, the results can find the potential drawbacks of benthic ecosystem resilience.

Evaluation of the Impacts of Oil Pollution and a Sustainability Assessment: A Focus Group Case Study of Ogoniland, Nigeria

The growing impact of climate change has piqued public interest in determining the effects of people's actions on future generations. However, while environmentalists continue to advocate for accountability, most people in the places where the majority of these pollutions occur, particularly in oil-producing communities, have no say in their future. The study proposes a qualitative approach and the creation of a focus group environmental matrix as a unique technique for oil spill management that considers people's perceptions. This study takes a qualitative approach, relying on a focus group discussion of 12 open-ended questions about oil spills effects on the ecosystem. The questions were all about the spills' impact on residents. The qualitative study was performed between March and May 2018 in Gio, Ogale, Kwakwa, and KeDere Local Governments in Ogoniland. Gender-based strategies were studied with pre-determined questions and a total of 48 participants. Participants were indigenous who were conversant with the chosen topic and were asked leading questions. Finally, matrix analysis was used, which matched the people's perspectives. As a result, the total environmental components were affected. The following are the effects of oil pollution recognised by the focus group matrix: unsustainable income, devalued economy, devalued culture, weathering mangrove, respiratory disorders, inaccuracy in reaction, communication barrier, and economic deterioration. It ascertained that the focus group technique to promote environmental restoration and sustainability is vital. It allows for a more direct connection with the most vulnerable and provides policymakers with potential solutions.