An assessment of the risks related to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediments, water, and prawn (Nematopaleamon hastatus) in Araromi beach, Ondo State, Nigeria

The current project was to evaluate the distribution, ecological, and health concerns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water, sediment, and prawn samples obtained at Araromi beach in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Prawns, water, and sediment were collected in three spots along the ocean’s path near populated areas. The obtained samples were processed, extracted, and analysed for PCBs using gas chromatographic mass spectroscopy with the Agilent 7820A spectrophotometer model.

Fourteen PCBs congeners were identified in all studied samples. The concentration of Σ14PCBs followed the order: prawn > water > sediment. The highest levels of PCBs were found in prawns (30.91 ± 0.24 mg l⁻¹), water (10.81 ± 0.18 mg kg⁻¹), and sediment (5.62 ± 0.05 ng g⁻¹). Penta- and di-PCBs were found to be the most frequent in the sediment profile (59.27% and 38.18%, respectively), whereas di- and penta-PCBs were discovered in the water sample profile (93.6% and 6.4%, respectively). Di-PCBs dominate the prawn profile, with 77.73%. The anticipated risk values for evaluating health hazards were higher than the risk levels for cancer and non-cancer risk assessments. The risk quotient in the prawns was 0.000423, which was less than one. PCB-151 had a bio-accumulation potential of 3.00 in water, whereas PCBs 5 and 187 had very high bio-accumulation values of 12.67 and 8.69 in sediment, respectively, which were above the threshold.

The data indicate a low ecological and possible hazard linked with exposure to PCBs in sediments and water at the Araromi coastline.