Determination of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Marine Samples of Siokolo Fishing Settlement

Analysis for the presence of 16 priority polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was carried out in fish, sediment and water samples of a fishing settlement in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria which is supposed to be extensively polluted by seepages from oil discharge terminals. The determination and quantification of PAHs in water, fish and sediment samples were done by GC-MS with the aid of isotopically labeled internal standards. The 16 priority PAHs, namely naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, flourene, phenanthrene, anthracene, flouranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]flouranthene, benzo[k]flouranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, were found to be present in significant amount in all three samples.