Sustained Environmental Impact of Crude Oil Spillage in Sediment, Water and Tilapia Fish (Tilapia Guineensis) Specie from the Escravos River of Okpogbene and Ovuloye Communities, in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.

Abstract

This study discusses the sustained environmental impact of crude oil spillage in sediment, water and Tilapia fish (Tilapia guineesis) specie from the Escravos river of Okpogbene and Ovuloye community. This was done to assess the level of pollution of the river by hydrocarbon. Sediment, water and fish samples were collected randomly from the study area and the control site (Ikot osukpong creek, Akwa-Ibom state). Agilent 6890N Gas Chromatography– Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) was used to determine the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH). The total concentration of PAH for sediment, water and Tilapia fish obtained for (station 1, 2 and control) were; 128.931, 226.296 and 9.814mg/kg; 75.593, 95.603 and 7.869mg/L; 75.915, 96.509 and 4.083mg/kg respectively. For TPH; 2693.456, 2706.123 and 76.274mg/kg; 825.452, 987.324 and 42.923mg/L; 310.235, 244.707 and 11.179mg/kg respectively. The concentration of PAH and TPH in Okpogbene and Ovuloye were significantly higher (p<0.05) than Ikot osukpong (control). PAH exceeded the WHO and EC recommended permissible limit of 10mg/l and12μg/kg for water and fish, except the controls and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) value of 2.5mg/kg for sediment respectively. The results of TPH exceeded the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) permissible limit for water, sediment and fish, except the control fish sample. Diagnostic ratios applied implicated more petrogenic sources of PAHs, this indicates significant carcinogenic health risk associated with the consumption of Tilapia fish from the river. The results revealed pollution threat in the Escravos river and the need for immediate remediation