CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Information Petroleum hydrocarbons and their other derivatives are majorly the energy source of various industrial, automobiles and domestic use. Petroleum (crude oil) is a complex mixture of several organic compounds such as aromatic cyclic hydrocarbons, complex branched aliphatic and cyclic alkanes as well as residual substances. Some of these do not degrade easily, and as such are termed recalcitrant (Nilanjana and Preethy, 2011). The increasing soil, surface and groundwater pollution through the release of petroleum hydrocarbons has been seen as one of the major issues in environmental pollution (Shah and Bhatt, 2006). Petroleum products have a long-term impact on the aquatic, soil, natural resources, and human health. Most of these contaminants have been found to be carcinogenic and toxic, and they easily find their way into the food chain (Farrington and McDowell, 2004). Hydrocarbons produced by natural activities are usually present at trace levels, whereas hydrocarbons originating from different anthropogenic activities are present at higher levels, especially in industrial and transportation associated areas (Okedeyi et al., 2013). In most cases, the pollutant released through industrial emissions are deliberate and well regulated, while cases such as chemical spills are mostly accidental and largely unavoidable (Akpofure et al., 2000). Also, anthropogenic activities from several auto mechanic workshops increasingly contaminate the environment with various petroleum products and motor spent oil such as diesel, engine oil and petrol (Yahaya, 2016).

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