Estimation of Toxicity Equivalent Concentration (TEQ) of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from Idu Ekpeye playground and University of Port Harcourt car parks

Abstract

This article reported the outcome of investigations of the concentrations of Carcinogenic Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) in soils around playground close to a crude oil flow station at Idu Ekpeye (a town near Port Harcourt) and car parks within University of Port Harcourt and use the data to determine the TEQ of cPAHs in the soils the various sites. All the seven cPAHs investigated were detected in all the sites. Ofrima Car Park (Pk 1) has highest concentration of TcPAHs and TPEC with values of 163.274 mg/kg and 37.522 mg/kg respectively, while Choba mini-park (Pk 2) has the lowest concentrations of TcPAHs and TPEC amongst the three sites with values of 42.474 mg/kg 9.877mg/kg respectively. All the sites exceeded the CAL-EPA BaP risk-based clean-up level of 0.132 mg/kg. Effective soil remediation and detoxification method like Dispersion by chemical reaction technology should be deployed to clean-up sites to avoid soil toxicity due to cPAHs.

Keywords: Tpec, Bap, PAHs, Carcinogens, PAHs, cPAHs,Toxicity, Soil