Sam Kabari, Onyena Amarachi P, Zabbey Nenibarini, Odoh Chuks K, Nwipie Goodluck N, Nkeeh Dumbari K, Osuji Leo C, Little David I
School of Environment, Geography and Geoscience, University of Portsmouth, University House, Winston Churchill Ave, Portsmouth, PO1 2UP, UK.
Department of Marine Environment and Pollution Control, Faculty of Marine Environmental Management, Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, Nigeria.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Mar;30(14):39451-39473. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-25833-9. Epub 2023 Feb 11.
Remediation of polluted environmental media is critical to realization of the goals of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UNDER) project. Many natural-resource dependent economies in Africa are characterized by numerous contaminated sites resulting from conventional and artisanal natural-resource mining. Alongside these extractive activities, there are refining, processing, and power plant operations, agriculture, urban, and infrastructure developments that contribute to increased discharges of toxins into the environment, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carcinogenic in nature. As a result, human and environmental receptors (i.e., air, water, soil, and biota) face increasing risk of exposure to higher concentrations of PAH. Evidence exists of widespread PAH contamination and in some instances where corrective action has been taken, residual contaminant levels exceeding regulatory thresholds remain in the environment due to the use of inappropriate and unsustainable remedial methods. Considering the long-term harmful effects of PAH on human and ecosystem health, land use, and the complexity of Africa's environmental deterioration, it is essential to explore remediation strategies that benefit both the environment and the economy. This review examined the status, opportunities, and challenges related to the application of emerging green technologies to remediate PAH-contaminated sites in five African countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Egypt, and Kenya). This paper concludes that bioremediation presents a sustainable option, considering its low net emissions and environmental footprints, and its low economic cost to Africa's poor communities and overburdened economy. However, an integration of biological and physico-chemical approaches could address various compounds and concentrations of PAH contamination.
污染环境介质的修复对于实现联合国生态系统恢复十年（UNDER）项目的目标至关重要。非洲许多依赖自然资源的经济体的特点是，传统和手工自然资源开采导致众多场地受到污染。除了这些采掘活动外，还有精炼、加工、发电厂运营、农业、城市和基础设施建设，这些都导致向环境中排放的毒素增加，特别是多环芳烃（PAHs），其本质上具有致癌性。因此，人类和环境受体（即空气、水、土壤和生物群）面临着接触更高浓度PAH的风险不断增加。有证据表明PAH污染广泛存在，而且在一些已采取纠正措施的情况下，由于使用了不适当和不可持续的修复方法，环境中仍残留有超过监管阈值的污染物水平。考虑到PAH对人类和生态系统健康、土地利用的长期有害影响以及非洲环境恶化的复杂性，探索对环境和经济都有益的修复策略至关重要。本综述研究了与在五个非洲国家（南非、尼日利亚、安哥拉、埃及和肯尼亚）应用新兴绿色技术修复PAH污染场地相关的现状、机遇和挑战。本文得出结论，考虑到生物修复的低净排放量和环境足迹，以及其对非洲贫困社区和负担过重的经济的低经济成本，生物修复是一种可持续的选择。然而，将生物方法和物理化学方法相结合可以应对各种PAH污染的化合物和浓度。
