Environmental health effects and biosurfactant production potentials of microorganisms isolated from five petroleum stations in Fate, Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Air harbors large quantity of bacteria and fungi which makes it imperative to carry out microbiological analysis of outdoor air. In this study the microbiological quality of air of five fuel stations at Fate, Ilorin were assessed. The isolated bacteria were tested for their ability to produce biosurfactant. Settling plate technique was employed for sample collection using nutrient agar plates and potato dextrose agar plates for bacterial and fungal isolation. The bacterial counts in the selected locations ranged from 3.72 ×10² cfu/m³ to 1.6592×10⁴ cfu/m³, while the fungal count ranged from 1.57 × 10² cfu/m³ to 1.18×10³ cfu /m³. The highest bacterial and fungal count was observed at station five which was the busiest during the sampling
period. Seven bacterial isolates and five fungal isolates were identified. The microorganisms identified include Bacillus sp, Lactobacillus sp, Micrococcus sp and Corynebacterium sp as the bacteria isolates while Aspergillus sp, Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizopus oryzae as the fungi isolates. Bacillus sp and Aspergillus niger had the highest microbial occurrence at 100% all through the sampling period. The Corynebacterium sp and Bacillus coagulans isolated exhibited biosurfactant producing potential that can be further tested for bioremediation purposes. The opportunistic pathogenicity of the bacterial and fungal species isolated in this research has vividly demonstrated that the microflora of the fuel stations at Fate, Ilorin, has public health implications. It is therefore recommended that proper sanitation and hygiene should be observed by everyone who associates with the petroleum stations environment.