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Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria

Received: 28 July 2013     Published: 30 August 2013
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Abstract

Scattered literature is harnessed to critically review the prime source, chemistry and potential environmental and health effects of co-contamination of nitrate and hydrocarbon pollutants commonly found in soils and surface- and groundwaters of Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, which substantially resulted from oil and gas exploration and exploitation via gas flaring of associated natural gas of crude oil. Gas flaring in Niger-Delta has impacted on the nitrate and hydrocarbon pollution of the region and thus, brought out attendant environmental and public health implications in the region. The historic trend of gas flaring presented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx, the precursor of nitrate), hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds presented by Shell-Nigeria suggest that amounts in excess of cubic meters of these are continuously generated year-in and year-out has established the co-contamination of nitrate and organic pollutants in the region. Therefore, as the problem now is brought out conspicuously, the paper could contribute in the justification of the existence of the co-contamination, which could serve as an ignition key for the investigation of an appropriate remediation technique that can simultaneously remove/degrade nitrates that co-exist with organic pollutants.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 1, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17
Page(s) 154-161
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Co-Contamination, Nitrate, Organic, Pollutants, Niger-Delta

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    Haruna Adamu, Bappah Adamu Umar. (2013). Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 1(4), 154-161. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17

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    Haruna Adamu; Bappah Adamu Umar. Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2013, 1(4), 154-161. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17

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    AMA Style

    Haruna Adamu, Bappah Adamu Umar. Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2013;1(4):154-161. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17,
      author = {Haruna Adamu and Bappah Adamu Umar},
      title = {Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {1},
      number = {4},
      pages = {154-161},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20130104.17},
      abstract = {Scattered literature is harnessed to critically review the prime source, chemistry and potential environmental and health effects of co-contamination of nitrate and hydrocarbon pollutants commonly found in soils and surface- and groundwaters of Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, which substantially resulted from oil and gas exploration and exploitation via gas flaring of associated natural gas of crude oil. Gas flaring in Niger-Delta has impacted on the nitrate and hydrocarbon pollution of the region and thus, brought out attendant environmental and public health implications in the region. The historic trend of gas flaring presented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx, the precursor of nitrate), hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds presented by Shell-Nigeria suggest that amounts in excess of cubic meters of these are continuously generated year-in and year-out has established the co-contamination of nitrate and organic pollutants in the region. Therefore, as the problem now is brought out conspicuously, the paper could contribute in the justification of the existence of the co-contamination, which could serve as an ignition key for the investigation of an appropriate remediation technique that can simultaneously remove/degrade nitrates that co-exist with organic pollutants.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    T1  - Occurrence and Chemistry of Co-contamination of Nitrate and Hydrocarbon Pollutants in Gas-Flared Areas of Niger-Delta, Nigeria
    AU  - Haruna Adamu
    AU  - Bappah Adamu Umar
    Y1  - 2013/08/30
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
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    EP  - 161
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20130104.17
    AB  - Scattered literature is harnessed to critically review the prime source, chemistry and potential environmental and health effects of co-contamination of nitrate and hydrocarbon pollutants commonly found in soils and surface- and groundwaters of Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, which substantially resulted from oil and gas exploration and exploitation via gas flaring of associated natural gas of crude oil. Gas flaring in Niger-Delta has impacted on the nitrate and hydrocarbon pollution of the region and thus, brought out attendant environmental and public health implications in the region. The historic trend of gas flaring presented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx, the precursor of nitrate), hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds presented by Shell-Nigeria suggest that amounts in excess of cubic meters of these are continuously generated year-in and year-out has established the co-contamination of nitrate and organic pollutants in the region. Therefore, as the problem now is brought out conspicuously, the paper could contribute in the justification of the existence of the co-contamination, which could serve as an ignition key for the investigation of an appropriate remediation technique that can simultaneously remove/degrade nitrates that co-exist with organic pollutants.
    VL  - 1
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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

  • Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

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