Occurrence of PAHs in water samples of the Diep River, South Africa

Authors

  • Adetunji A Awe Department of Chemistry, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Beatrice O Opeolu Department of Environmental and Occupational Studies, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Olatunde S Olatunji School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
  • Olalekan S Fatoki Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Vanessa A Jackson Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Reinette G Snyman Department of Conservation and Marine Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2020.v46.i1.7888

Keywords:

PAHs, Diep River, GC-FID, freshwater

Abstract

Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in freshwater may aggravate the water crisis currently being experienced in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. However, there is dearth of data on the levels of PAHs, which is necessary for effective assessment of water quality as well as remediation strategies. This study therefore assessed levels of PAHs in the Diep River freshwater system of Western Cape Province, South Africa. A liquid-liquid extraction solid-phase extraction gas chromatography flame ionisation detection (LLE-SPE-GC-FID) method was developed to simultaneously determine the 16 United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) listed priority PAHs in water samples. The SPE-GC-FID method allowed an acceptable linearity (R2 > 0.999) within the calibration range of 1 to 50 µg/mL. Instrument detection limits ranged between 0.02 and 0.04 µg/mL and instrument quantification limits between 0.06 and 0.13 µg/mL. Recovery study results were also acceptable (83.69–96.44%) except for naphthalene, which had recovery of 60.05% in spiked water matrix. The seasonal averages of individual PAH detected at the studied sites ranged between not detected (nd) and 72.38 ± 9.58 µg/L in water samples.

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Published

2020-01-30

How to Cite

Adetunji A Awe, Beatrice O Opeolu, Olatunde S Olatunji, Olalekan S Fatoki, Vanessa A Jackson, & Reinette G Snyman. (2020). Occurrence of PAHs in water samples of the Diep River, South Africa. Water SA, 46(1 January). https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2020.v46.i1.7888

Issue

Section

Research paper