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Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are very toxic and persistent environmental contaminants. This study was undertaken to assess the concentrations and possible sources of 16 PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) classified by the United State Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants i...

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Autores principales: Edokpayi, Joshua N., Odiyo, John O., Popoola, Oluwaseun E., Msagati, Titus A. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27043597
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040387
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author Edokpayi, Joshua N.
Odiyo, John O.
Popoola, Oluwaseun E.
Msagati, Titus A. M.
author_facet Edokpayi, Joshua N.
Odiyo, John O.
Popoola, Oluwaseun E.
Msagati, Titus A. M.
author_sort Edokpayi, Joshua N.
collection PubMed
description Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are very toxic and persistent environmental contaminants. This study was undertaken to assess the concentrations and possible sources of 16 PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) classified by the United State Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants in water and sediments of the Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers. Effluents from Thohoyandou wastewater treatment plant and Siloam waste stabilization ponds were also investigated. Diagnostic ratios were used to evaluate the possible sources of PAHs. PAHs in the water samples were extracted using 1:1 dichloromethane and n-hexane mixtures, while those in the sediment samples were extracted with 1:1 acetone and dichloromethane using an ultrasonication method. The extracts were purified using an SPE technique and reconstituted in n-hexane before analyses with a gas chromatograph time of flight—mass spectrometer. The results obtained indicate the prevalence of high molecular weight PAHs in all the samples. PAHs concentrations in water and sediment samples from all the sampling sites were in the range of 13.174–26.382 mg/L and 27.10–55.93 mg/kg, respectively. Combustion of biomass was identified as the major possible source of PAHs. Effluents from wastewater treatment facilities were also considered as major anthropogenic contributions to the levels of PAHs found in both river water and sediments. Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers show moderate to high contamination level of PAHs.
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spelling pubmed-48470492016-05-04 Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa Edokpayi, Joshua N. Odiyo, John O. Popoola, Oluwaseun E. Msagati, Titus A. M. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are very toxic and persistent environmental contaminants. This study was undertaken to assess the concentrations and possible sources of 16 PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) classified by the United State Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants in water and sediments of the Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers. Effluents from Thohoyandou wastewater treatment plant and Siloam waste stabilization ponds were also investigated. Diagnostic ratios were used to evaluate the possible sources of PAHs. PAHs in the water samples were extracted using 1:1 dichloromethane and n-hexane mixtures, while those in the sediment samples were extracted with 1:1 acetone and dichloromethane using an ultrasonication method. The extracts were purified using an SPE technique and reconstituted in n-hexane before analyses with a gas chromatograph time of flight—mass spectrometer. The results obtained indicate the prevalence of high molecular weight PAHs in all the samples. PAHs concentrations in water and sediment samples from all the sampling sites were in the range of 13.174–26.382 mg/L and 27.10–55.93 mg/kg, respectively. Combustion of biomass was identified as the major possible source of PAHs. Effluents from wastewater treatment facilities were also considered as major anthropogenic contributions to the levels of PAHs found in both river water and sediments. Mvudi and Nzhelele Rivers show moderate to high contamination level of PAHs. MDPI 2016-03-30 2016-04 /pmc/articles/PMC4847049/ /pubmed/27043597 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040387 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Edokpayi, Joshua N.
Odiyo, John O.
Popoola, Oluwaseun E.
Msagati, Titus A. M.
Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title_full Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title_fullStr Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title_short Determination and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rivers, Sediments and Wastewater Effluents in Vhembe District, South Africa
title_sort determination and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in rivers, sediments and wastewater effluents in vhembe district, south africa
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27043597
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040387
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