Impact of Granite Quarrying on the Health of Workers and Nearby Residents in Abeokuta Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The present paper monitored levels of suspended particulate matters in the ambient air in and around selected quarries and analyzed the prevalent health problems suffered by nearby residents and quarry workers. It also assessed the residents' awareness of the negative implications of living in close proximity to quarry sites. Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) meter was employed to monitor the level of particulate matter (PM 10 ) within and around five quarry sites selected for this study. The data collected from hospital records of quarry workers portrayed their health profile while the prevalent health problems of the nearby residents were elicited from a questionnaire survey conducted in two selected neighbouring communities of quarries. Results of the study showed that the highest mean SPM levels among the selected quarries vary between 26.03±1.36mg/m 3 and 11.03±1.52mg/m 3 . SPM levels declined significantly (p>0.05) with distance from the drilling and crushing locations at each of the quarry sites. At 25metres away from the quarry sites, mean SPM levels reduced drastically to 4.85±0.20mg/m 3 and 3.67±0.40mg/m 3 . Both psychological and health problems suffered by nearby residents include shock (46.0%), nasal infection (29.2%), and asthma (4.6%). The quarry workers suffered predominantly from cough (26.0%), catarrh (20.0%) and sinusitis (15.0%). Although, the residents of neighbouring communities are aware of risks associated with living near quarry sites, their general low socio-economic status made them incapable of taking any decisive measure towards relocating elsewhere. Approval for quarry operation should mandate environmental impact assessment and ensure strict implementation of outlined mitigation measures so as to guarantee environmental sustainability.

Impact of Stone Quarrying on the Environment and the Livelihood of Communities in Mandera County, Kenya

“…The lifting of heavy stones during loading and offloading of vehicles also caused muscle pain among many quarry workers. About 26.7% of the respondents complained of cough/asthma [8,7, them complained of eyes a result of the continued presence of dust during quarrying and particulate matter in the air caused by big stone transportation trucks [9,8,7,6] and destruction of vegetation cover [6]. of the respondents complained of malaria.…”

“…Further the operations in stone quarrying, whether small or large-scale, are inherently disruptive to the environment, producing enormous quantities of waste that can have deleterious impacts for decades and that the environmental deterioration caused by stone quarrying occurs mainly as a result of inappropriate and wasteful working practices and rehabilitation measures [3,4]. For instance, some studies in the Northern Region of Ghana and East Gonja District in particular found that commercial extraction of sand and gravel cause land degradation and desertification through destruction of economically important trees mostly indigenous in nature [5,6]. This degradation of environment due to stone quarrying activities has put forth questions as to whether or not the mining activities should be continued [7,4].…”

“…This degradation of environment due to stone quarrying activities has put forth questions as to whether or not the mining activities should be continued [7,4]. Additionally some 4 million people have been reported also to die yearly from acute respiratory problems in developing countries, for the most part being aggravated by environmental pollution emanating from quarrying, sandblasting and emission of dangerous chemicals [8,7,6].…”

Awareness and compliance with use of safety protective devices and patterns of injury among quarry workers in Sabon-Gari Local Government Area, Kaduna state North-Western Nigeria

“…There were similarities in the health problems suffered by the residents living near quarry sites and quarry workers in the study area. [13] In Delhi, India, no personal protective equipment was provided to quarry workers, helmets, safety belts, masks, safety shoes were "foreign" things. [14] People should not work in a quarry unless they are competent based on knowledge, experience, training and other qualities related to the job they are to do.…”

Air quality assessment on human well-being in the vicinity of quarry site

“…The data obtained from each location will be plotted between distance and air quality level. [6] Reports studied began from the year 1995 to 2002 and it contains the assessment, prevention and reducing method of the impact for environment. [7] Table 2 shows the relationship between distances of residency and the quarrying impact of affected respondent.…”