An Environmental Impact Assessment was initiated to monitor the distribution and effect of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants on the quality of the surface water, groundwater, and sediments of Ibeno, Esit-Eket, Onna, and Ikot Abasi. Eighty-one (81) samples were randomly collected from surface water, boreholes, and soil for analyses based on the standard physiochemical parameters for comparison with the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The variation in the average pH of water was not significant (6.5 to 8.0), well within the range for unpolluted streams. However, the total hydrocarbon content (THC) of the sediments was greater than 200 mg/kg, which is the limit, thus indicating heavy pollution by hydrocarbons. The pollution indices for the potential contaminants were also determined, in which the pollution index of surface water samples and borehole water sample is <1 indicating an unpolluted water body, while the pollution index of sediment samples was > 1, showing polluted sediments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.