The Effects of Petroleum on Dry Land - Literature review Example

The Effects of Petroleum on Dry Land Introduction Petroleum (In Greek petra means “ rock and oleum means “ oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. A widely believed myth is that the oil itself is flammable; however, it is actually the gas that evaporates from the oil that is flammable. Petroleum exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust. Another name is naphtha (Petroleum: environmental effects, n. d) The discovery of fossil fuels or petroleum related products have revolutionized the human life. Even though, science and technology developed a lot, it failed to develop a feasible alternate energy source for the petroleum products. Even though solar energy and nuclear energy were proposed as alternate energy sources for petroleum products, the technology developed so far for exploiting these resources are complex and expensive. In other words, till the science and technology succeeded in devising new cheap and simple methods to exploit the alternate energy sources, fossil fuels or petroleum products may not lost its importance in human history. Even though petroleum products are assisting the human life in one way, it is causing severe damages to the human life in many other ways. Land, water, and air are polluted immensely when the petroleum products were extracted or used. Oil spills are common accidents which destroy the eco system in many land and water areas. For example, Daniel et al (2006) have mentioned that “between 1976 and 1990, oil companies in Nigeria witnessed a total of 2,796 oil spills. An estimated total quantity of 2,105,393 barrels of oil was spilled on land, coastal and offshore marine environments” (DANIEL et al, 2006, p.111). This paper briefly analyses the effect of petroleum on dry land. The Effects of Petroleum on Dry Land The problem of pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons is very evident. Leakages from oil wells, lands contaminated from oil spills, sludge and drill cuttings are the major contributors to this problem. If not managed properly, these sources of petroleum pollutants can lead to contamination of water and biological resources, where serious health threats can become a reality and even more difficult to handle (Jaggernauth et al, 2001). If spilled over a region of land, petroleum can cause problems to the plant life and the human life in different ways. Soil will lose its ability to absorb water and hence the plant life could be seriously affected. “Heavier oil with a high viscosity rate penetrates slowly” (The Detrimental Effects of Oil Spills on Our Environment, 2009) Daniel et al (2006) have pointed out that if fire caught on spilled oil tar mat oily scum could be formed which may prevent soil aeration and water infiltration into subsoil layers (DANIEL et al, 2006, p.111). In other words, farming near such oil spilled areas is absolutely impossible even for decades. Petroleum contamination can affect the growth patterns of the plant negatively. Biomass contents could be reduced drastically in the oil spilled areas and the plants may not grow properly on these areas. Plant height and leaf area could be severely reduced as a result of the oil spillage. “Researches show that the plants that are able to grow in contaminated sites take up long chain alkanes into their roots rapidly and slowly translocate them to stems and leaves as result of their low solubility in water (Ogbo, et al, 2009, p.233). Petroleum does not soluble in water. The insolubility of petroleum in water causes more harm than the goods. The plants near the oil spillage area forced to absorb more alkaline substances involved in the petroleum instead of water and hence their normal growth pattern would be seriously affected. At the same time higher plant density in the oil spillage area may cause reduced effects on plants. In other words, higher density of the plants in oil spillage area helps the plants to share the negative effects of oil spillage and hence individual plants may not be affected much. “Higher standing crop density improved the performance of plant like Paspalum vaginata in the remediation of dredge spoils in the Niger Delta of Nigeria” (Ogbo, et al, 2009, p.233). Oil may spreads onto farmlands and water bodies at the time of oil spills and a substantial portion of the oil spilled would be absorbed by the roots of plants and cause poor growth of plants Ekpo and Ebeagwu, (2009) conducted a comprehensive study to analyze the effects of petroleum or crude oil on microorganisms and dry matter of fluted pumpkin. They have treated the soil with different levels of crude oil: 0% (control), 1, 3 and 6% v/w and obtained the following results; There was no significant different in bacteria count after 35 days in all the treatments.. Pumpkin seeds had 100% emergence/germination in both the control and 1% oil treated soils while the 3 and 6% treatments recorded 85 and 33% respectively. The 3% and the 6% crude oil treated soils significantly (P>0.05) reduced the dry matter of leaf, stem and root. The pollution levels of 3% and above was noted to be harmful to the germination and growth of the plant (Ekpo and Ebeagwu, 2009, p.733) The above studies clearly show that the soil contamination may occur only when excessive quantities of oil spilled over an area. Small amounts of oil may not cause many problems to the plants and herbs. When released into the soil, petroleum normally may quickly evaporate. The evaporation of petroleum may damage the air surrounding the oil spillage area. “When released into the air, petroleum is expected to be readily degraded by reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals” (PETROLEUM ETHER, 2007). The air near the oil spillage area could be contaminated and the contamination may last even for weeks. Oil spills involve the release of dangerous hydrocarbons such as benzene and Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons into the soil and water sources. These spillages affect vast stretches of land and waterways thus polluting not only crops but also marine life and the sources of water for domestic uses (PYAGBARA, 2007, p.6). A Apart from breathing the polluted air, people staying near the oil spillage areas forced to use oil contaminated drinking water also. Oil can penetrate deep into the layers of soil and it can reach the drinking water sources like wells. Soil layers are transparent for the oil and it can pass though the soil layers easily. Apart from plant life, petroleum can adversely affect birds and mammals and fishes. Oil causes contamination to birds’ food supply, eggs, and habitat. External contamination by oil destroys plumage, mats feathers and causes eye irritation. Oily feathers hinder birds from flying and deprive them of their ability to retain warmth (Environmental impact of oil and gas activity in the Arctic, n. d, p.5) Conclusions Petroleum can cause immense damage to the fertility of the soil. It can prevent plants from taking water from the soil and it can also spreads over the water on drinking water sources. Apart from human life, bird life and plant life can also be affected because of the petroleum spillage over land areas. If the plant density is big, then the adverse effects of petroleum spillage over land could be reduced because of the sharing of the oil content by the higher amount of pants. If the plant density is less, the adverse effects of petroleum spillage would be more and the plants may not grow properly and their leaf size would be considerably reduced. Atmospheric air can also be polluted as a result of oil spillage over land or water. Petroleum can quickly evaporate and the air pollution may last even for weeks depend on the severity of the oil spillage. References 1. DANIEL, KALIO, L A and PEPPLE, (2006). Effect of Bonny Light Crude Oil Pollution of Soil on the Growth of dayflower (Commelina benghalensis L.) in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Mgt. June 2006, Vol. 10 (2) 111 – 114 2. Jaggernauth, D.J.D, Seeram, B and Petrotrin (2001) The Effects of Petroelum Production Operations on the Environment In Trinidad [Online], Available at: http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=00071432&soc=SPE [Accessed on 27 November 2010] 3. Environmental impact of oil and gas activity in the Arctic, (n. d) [Online], Available at: http://www.bellona.org/filearchive/fil_Chapter_5._Environmental_impact_of_oil_and_gas_activity_in_the_Arctic.pdf [Accessed on 27 November 2010] 4. Ekpo M. A. and Ebeagwu C. J. (2009). The effect of crude oil on microorganisms and dry matter of fluted pumpkin. Scientific Research and Essay Vol.4 (8), pp. 733-739, August, 2009 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/SRE ISSN 1992-2248 2009 Academic Journals 5. Ogbo, E.M., Zibigha M and Odogu G (2009). The effect of crude oil on growth of the weed (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) –phytoremediation potential of the plant. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Vol. 3 (9), pp. 229-233, September, 2009 6. PYAGBARA, L.S. (2007) The Adverse Impacts of Oil Pollution on the Environment and Wellbeing of a Local Indigenous Community: The Experience of the Ogoni People of Nigeria, [Online], Available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/.../workshop_IPPE_pyagbara.doc [Accessed on 27 November 2010] 7. PETROLEUM ETHER (2007). [Online], Available at: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/p1696.htm [Accessed on 27 November 2010] 8. Petroleum: environmental effects, (n. d) [Online], Available at: http://www.experiencefestival.com/petroleum_-_environmental_effects [Accessed on 27 November 2010] 9. The Detrimental Effects of Oil Spills on Our Environment, (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/the-detrimental-effects-of-oil-spills-on-our-environment-1043176.html [Accessed on 27 November 2010] Read More