Oil Spills in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria: Environmental Fate of Toxic Volatile Organics.

Abstract

Background: Over the years, the issue of environmental degradation of ecological resources from crude oil pollution and its human health impacts is receiving more global attention. The utilization of environmental models capable of predicting the fate, transport and toxicity of chemicals in spilled crude oil can provide essential knowledge required to deal with the complexity associated with the fate of volatile petroleum chemicals in the environment. Objective: This paper explores environmental fate of toxic volatile organics from oil spill in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.Methods: A critical analysis of available literatures/data from PubMed, Scopus, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Jstor, including expert working group reports and environmental modeling using a screening tool (USEPA EPI Suite™) was carried out to determine the environmental partitioning of Benzene, Toluene and Naphthalene (BTN) respectively. The organic-carbon partitioning coefficient (Koc) was computed as a function of soil-water distribution coefficient (Kd) and percentage organic matter (%OM). This was utilized to determine the distribution of BTN in the environment and the possible risk posed on delicate ecological resources from crude oil pollution due to exploration and production activities within the Niger Delta Region (NDR), Nigeria. Results: Results from literature implicated sabotage and operational failures from pipelines as primary causes of crude oil spillages. Generation of a fugacity model using EPI Suite™ revealed that the behavior of BTN is greatly influenced by Koc values. The default Molecular Connectivity Index (MCI) showed that benzene and toluene will partition more into the water compartment while naphthalene will partition into the soil compartment. However, user-entered values showed all three chemicals partitioning more into the soil compartment. Aquatic toxicology estimation using Ecological Structural Activity Relationship (ECOSAR) revealed all chemicals not to be toxic even at over-estimated Koc values. Conclusion: This research established the usefulness of screening level environmental modelling tools in assessing environmental risk and hence helpful in developing site-specific models for monitoring chemicals in the environment which can assist governments, policy makers and industries in the design of appropriate regional disaster management plans.

When Water Turns Deadly: Investigating Source Identification and Quality of Drinking Water in Piwoyi Community of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria.

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