Abstract
Parts of the Nigerian Niger Delta which also accommodates huge number of oil facilities has swamps in some parts with non – turbulent water bodies. These water bodies are negatively impacted from oil pollution but lack the capacities to self-clean like high flowing waters. The calm nature of these swamps result in higher than normal retention, partitioning and diffusion of hydrocarbon components. This study investigated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations at different depths for a period of ten months by simulating an oil spill site (8m by 5m and 1.5m deep) typical of a non-turbulent mangrove swamp with suspended sediments and vegetation polluted with 60 litres of crude oil. Impacted water samples were collected at depths of 0.25m, 0.5m, 0.75m and 1.0m. They were filtered and the petroleum aliphatic and aromatic contents analyzed using a GC-FID. The results obtained showed that petroleum hydrocarbons can dissolve and diffuse to different depths at concentrations above safe limits, thus posing great danger to aquatic life and its entire value chain.
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Research Article
EUR J SUSTAIN DEV RES, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2021, Article No: em0152
https://doi.org/10.21601/ejosdr/9708
Publication date: 03 Feb 2021
Article Views: 1358
Article Downloads: 943
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