Determination Of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons And Selected Heavy Metals In Underground Water And Soil From The Vicinity Of Major Filling Stations In Abuja

ABSTRACT

Five different filling stations (Station A, Station B, Station C, Station D and Station E) were analyzed for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and heavy metals concentration using Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrophotometer respectively. The result of the analysis obtained indicated that the percentage range of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in soil is from 0.8061-34.3103%, respectively. Furthermore, the percentage range of underground water are from 11.632 to 2.292%, while those of heavy metals elements are 0.1277 to 0.1682 mg/L for Cd, 0.1919 to 5.3279 mg/l for Cr, 0.9025 to 1.6084 mg/l for Cu and 0.2977 to 2.4786 mg/l for Pb in soil samples and 0.1269 to 0.1799 mg/l for Cd, -0.3058 to 0.9095mg/l for Cr, 0.4053 to 1.5700 mg/l for Cu and 0.2230 to 1.6303 mg/l for Pb in water samples. Station E recorded the highest value of 32.292% for TPH in water samples while Station D recorded the highest value of 43.9357% for TPH in soil samples. heavy metal in Cd Station E had the highest concentration for soil and Station D had the highest for water, Station E had the highest concentration of Cr in soil and Station A had the highest concentration for water, Station C had the highest concentration of Cu in soil and Station A had the highest concentration in water, Station E had the highest concentration of Pb in both soil and water. From the result, the concentration of Cd, Cr and Pb in soil and water samples are above WHO permissible limit. Also, the percentage concentrations of TPH in soil and water samples in these areas are also higher than the UN recommended value. The soil and water samples from the study areas showed some level of contamination.