PH10 Soil Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday
(PH136) Bacterial−Linked Mathematical Model (BALMMO) for Environmental Impact Assessment of Crude Oil Pollution on Agricultural Soil.
Onwurah, I.N.1, Otitoju, O2, 1 University of Nigeria, Department of Biochemistry, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria2 University of Nigeria, Department of Biochemistry, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT- The assessment of impact of crude oil spill on agricultural land is traditionally based on its effect on "standing crops" or economic trees. This is superficial because the biophysical and biochemical properties of the soil, the soil microflora that promote soil fertility, high stored energy and primary productivity, are also affected. In characterising crude oil impact on the soil, the methods of evaluating relevant factors should be defined and interpreted. Cybernetics modelling of some biochemical end-point parameters of a soil bacterium, A vinelandii was used in toxicity determination, while "practical biodegradation" model was applied for evaluating crude oil residence time in the soil compartment. These two models were integrated into a bacterial−linked mathematical model (BALMMO), which was used in quantifying oil spill impacts in two locations, Apara and Diobu, in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. This model may assist decision makers in working out adequate compensation to the community whose farmlands have been rendered unproductive due to oil spill.
Key words: bacteria model, crude oil, impact assessment, agricultural soil