Quality of Water and Air in Artisanally Refined Crude Oil-impacted Communities in Ekeremor, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The practice of artisanal refining of crude oil remains rampant within the Niger Delta region of Nigeria with consequent pollution and destruction of the environment as well as exposure of the human population to various pollutants known to cause health problems. It was thus necessary to conduct this study to assess the quality of water and air in communities where artisanal refining of crude oil is carried out in Ekeremor, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. This was a comparative cross-sectional study that was conducted in Peretorugbene community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa state. Water samples from five points (L1-L5) in the study site and one control site (LX were obtained and assessed. Also, air quality assessments were conducted and results were comparatively assessed for significant differences between test and control sites. Results revealed that the water samples from the third sampling site (L3) had the highest levels of chromium of 0.100±0.055, while the first sampling site (L1) had the highest levels of lead of 5.225±0.687. Heavy metals’ concentrations from the water samples obtained from the artisanal refining sites significantly differed from the concentration of the samples from the non-artisanal refining site (p-value: 0.006 [for chromium], p-value: <0.001 [for lead]). Assessment of the concentration of noxious gases in the air at these two differing sites revealed that the carbon monoxide (3.110±0.160), nitrogen oxides (2.870±0.212), and sulfur oxides (2.557±0.105) from the first sampling site (L1) were the highest, and carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides concentration at the non-artisanal refining site was significantly lower from the concentrations at all the artisanal refining sites (p-value: <0.001). Also, the turbidity, temperature, and salinity of the water samples exceeded the allowable standard limits, alongside the lead, cadmium and mercury levels. In this study, it was thus concluded that the turbidity, temperature, and salinity of the water samples exceeded the allowable standard limits, while the conductivity, and total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water samples were below the acceptable standards. Also, the assessed air quality parameters were found to exceed the laid down allowable limits. It was recommended that stakeholders at the federal level of government should strengthen and enforce regulations specifically targeting artisanal refining activities in order to control and monitor their environmental impact.