Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Rainwater and the Ecological, Health Effects on Inhabiatant Crude Oil Producing Communities of Niger-delta, Nigeria

Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Rainwater and the Ecological, Health Effects on Inhabiatant Crude Oil Producing Communities of Niger-delta, Nigeria | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Rainwater and the Ecological, Health Effects on Inhabiatant Crude Oil Producing Communities of Niger-delta, Nigeria S. A. Uzoekwe, R. R. Abdulsalam, C.A. Onwudiegwu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8495499/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent organic pollutants associated with crude oil exploitation and combustion, remain a growing concern in the Niger-Delta. This observational-case study quantified concentrations in rainwater across seven locations from four communities in Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State: Otuoke (control), Otuasega (OTG1, OTG2), Imiringi (IM1, IM2), and Ibeliberi (IB1, IB2), with emphasis on ecological and human health implications. Sixteen priority PAHs (US EPA list) were analyzed using GC–MS. Low–molecular weight PAHs (2–3 rings) were dominant: naphthalene (0.07000 ± 0.08200 mg/L) > phenanthrene (0.03860 ± 0.02212 mg/L) > acenaphthene (0.03000 ± 0.01118 mg/L) > fluorene (0.02430 ± 0.00535 mg/L) > acenaphthylene (0.02190 ± 0.00612 mg/L) > anthracene (0.01290 ± 0.00906 mg/L). Among high–molecular weight PAHs (4–6 rings), dibenz\[a,h]anthracene (0.03930 ± 0.02392 mg/L) was most abundant, whereas others (pyrene, chrysene, indeno\[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, benzo\[g,h,i]perylene) were below detection limits. Toxic equivalent quotient (TEQ) estimates, ranked dibenz\[a,h]anthracene highest (0.0393 mg/L), followed by phenanthrene (0.00386 mg/L), while most congeners occurred at lower values. Mean concentrations exceeded US. EPA permissible limits. Health risk indices (HI, ILCR) posited potential to low level carcinogenic and ecological risks, with significant spatial differences across stations (p ≤ 0.005). Overall, results indicate that atmospheric deposition of PAHs from crude oil exploration and petroleum-related activities contributes to hydrocarbon contamination of rainwater in the region. This baseline study underscores the need for integrated pollution monitoring, strengthened environmental regulation, and community-based interventions to safeguard ecosystem and public health in crude oil producing areas of the Niger Delta. PAHs Precipitation Ecotoxicological assessment Carcinogenicity Source-apportionment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8495499","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":627607442,"identity":"d909d1b8-31d2-49de-bea6-c5d65af65c81","order_by":0,"name":"S. A. 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This observational-case study quantified concentrations in rainwater across seven locations from four communities in Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State: Otuoke (control), Otuasega (OTG1, OTG2), Imiringi (IM1, IM2), and Ibeliberi (IB1, IB2), with emphasis on ecological and human health implications. Sixteen priority PAHs (US EPA list) were analyzed using GC\u0026ndash;MS. Low\u0026ndash;molecular weight PAHs (2\u0026ndash;3 rings) were dominant: naphthalene (0.07000\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.08200 mg/L)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;phenanthrene (0.03860\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.02212 mg/L)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;acenaphthene (0.03000\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.01118 mg/L)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;fluorene (0.02430\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.00535 mg/L)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;acenaphthylene (0.02190\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.00612 mg/L)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;anthracene (0.01290\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.00906 mg/L). Among high\u0026ndash;molecular weight PAHs (4\u0026ndash;6 rings), dibenz\\[a,h]anthracene (0.03930\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.02392 mg/L) was most abundant, whereas others (pyrene, chrysene, indeno\\[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, benzo\\[g,h,i]perylene) were below detection limits. Toxic equivalent quotient (TEQ) estimates, ranked dibenz\\[a,h]anthracene highest (0.0393 mg/L), followed by phenanthrene (0.00386 mg/L), while most congeners occurred at lower values. Mean concentrations exceeded US. EPA permissible limits. Health risk indices (HI, ILCR) posited potential to low level carcinogenic and ecological risks, with significant spatial differences across stations (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;0.005). Overall, results indicate that atmospheric deposition of PAHs from crude oil exploration and petroleum-related activities contributes to hydrocarbon contamination of rainwater in the region. This baseline study underscores the need for integrated pollution monitoring, strengthened environmental regulation, and community-based interventions to safeguard ecosystem and public health in crude oil producing areas of the Niger Delta.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Rainwater and the Ecological, Health Effects on Inhabiatant Crude Oil Producing Communities of Niger-delta, Nigeria","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-23 11:10:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8495499/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"881fc09a-99ee-4273-8d92-25b3c2b262df","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-23T11:10:25+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-23 11:10:25","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8495499","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8495499","identity":"rs-8495499","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}