Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Selected Surface Sediments within Ijebu-Ode and Environs, Ogun State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/Keywords:
Bioaccumulation, Detection frequencies, GC-MS, Surface sedimentsAbstract
Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are a class of synthetic chemicals known for their persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation in the environment. These compounds are resistant to degradation by biological, chemical, microbiological, or physical processes, with half-lives ranging from months to decades. They are highly toxic, causing acute and chronic health effects. Despite being banned in many countries, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are still detected in the Nigerian environment and food chain, likely due to persistence, illegal trade, and improper disposal of old stockpiles. Hence, this study focused on investigating the presence of sixteen OCPs such as α-BHC, β-BHC, δ-BHC, γ-BHC, heptachlor, aldrin, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan I, dieldrin, endrin, endosulfan II, 4,4’-DDD, endrin aldehyde, endosulfan sulfate, 4,4’-DDT and methoxychlor using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) technique after an extraction and clean-up procedure using the dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) technique on selected surface sediments within Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria. The detection frequencies of the OCPs in ascending order were 50.0 %, 56.3%, 62.5 %, and 62.5% at Ijagun, Ososa, Imoru, and Ogbogbo, respectively. Based on the detection frequencies, Imoru and Ososa are more polluted. Conversely, the total mean concentrations revealed that Ososa and Ogbogbo had the highest levels of OCP at 74.54 mg/kg and 79.56 mg/kg, respectively. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the sites studied are polluted with OCPs. As such, removal strategies, such as phytoremediation or bioremediation procedures, should be developed to eliminate these pollutants from the environment.
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