ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine the presence and concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in some personal care products in Nigeria. Commonly used consumer care products grouped into four classes, namely: plastics, cosmetics, disinfectants and washing products, were purchased from some supermarkets in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The solid samples were pulverized and the PAHs and OCPs were extracted with n-hexane and dichloromethane, respectively using Soxhlet extraction method, while the liquid samples were extracted using liquid-liquid extraction method. The quantitative and qualitative determinations were carried out using Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) for PAHs, and Gas Chromatography coupled with Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD) for the OCPs. The results for PAHs analysis gave an overall mean concentration of 3259.10 ± 5223.16 µg g-1 for plastics and 8388.00 ± 7106.55 µg g-1 for cosmetics. Comparatively, the concentrations of PAHs in the cosmetic samples were higher than in plastics samples, while both values were greater than the recommended limits of PAHs in consumer care products as stipulated by the World Health Organization. For the OCPs, disinfectant samples had a total mean concentration of 10.65 ± 6.50 µg mL-1, while washing products had a total mean concentration of 35.31 ± 39.31 µg mL-1. The concentrations of OCPs in washing products were higher than their concentrations in disinfectant samples. The results of the OCPs in some samples were greater than Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) recommended by the European Commission. The study concluded that consumer care products used in this study contained PAHs and OCPs at levels that could be risky to human health if the consumer care products are not used with caution.
ABSTRACT
This study determined the presence and levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) of groundwater in Moro, Edun-Abon, Yakoyo and Ipetumodu communities in Ife-North Local Government Area of Osun State. This was with a view to create public awareness about the safety of groundwater as a source for domestic purposes (e.g., drinking, cooking etc.) in non-industrial area. Water samples were collected on seasonal basis, comprising of three months (August-October) in the wet season and three months (December-February) in the dry season. The PAHs in the water samples were extracted with n-hexane using liquid-liquid extraction method, while their qualitative identifications and quantitative estimations were carried out with the use of gas chromatography. Levels of PAHs detected showed predominance of light PAHs (less than four fused rings) for both wet and the dry seasons. Higher concentrations of PAHs were recorded during the wet season than the dry season. The study concluded that the groundwater in the communities was contaminated with light PAHs and the total PAHs in this area exceeded the maximum permissible limit of 10 µg L-1 recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) for safety of groundwater.
