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Environmental Monitoring and Pollution Studies
Year 2025 | October 17, 2025
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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Environmental Media in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region

Beauty M. T., Ephraim-Emmanuel, B. C. Institutions: University of Port Harcourt

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Abstract

The release of pollutants such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) due to oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is known to have calamitous environmental and inadvertent human health effects. This study assessed the concentrations of PAHs in soil, food (garri & pumpkin leaves) and water in two selected communities in the Niger Delta. The study was conducted in Eleme, an oil-producing Local Government Area (LGA) in Rivers State and Aboh Mbaise, a non-oil-producing LGA in Imo State. Soil, food and water samples were collected using pre-existing environmental media collection guidelines and sent to the laboratory for extraction and quantification of PAHs using a Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The data obtained was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and statistical significance was set at 0.05. The sample mean concentration of PAHs in soil was 0.31±0.26 (5.03) mg/kg and 0.19±0.18 (2.95) mg/kg, garri was 0.56±0.45 (8.98) mg/kg and 0.26±0.18 (4.17) mg/kg, pumpkin leaf was 0.03±0.02 (0.48) mg/kg and 0.04±0.02 (0.58) mg/kg and water was 0.02±0.02 (0.39) mg/l and 0.05±0.04 (0.72) mg/l for Eleme and Aboh Mbaise respectively. There was a significant difference in the PAHs concentrations in water (p-value: of 0.035) and pumpkin leaves (p-value: 0.018) were also identified. The obtained ƩPAHs from the two communities exceeded the acceptable limits for ƩPAHs set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. There is a need for the elimination of pyrolytic and petrogenic sources of PAH pollution by concerned environmental health stakeholders.

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Social Sciences Environmental Monitoring and Pollution Studies https://doi.org/10.70726/emps.2025.215161

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