Slow death from pollution: potential health hazards from air quality in the mgbede oil fields of southsouth Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Today, pollution is a serious issue that threatens the health of billions of people, weakens the economic security of nations, and is to blame for a significant portion of the world's burden of disease, disability, lost productivity, medical expenses, and costs associated with ecosystem damage and premature death. However, despite their enormous size, these expenses are often hidden and frequently go unnoticed as a result of pollution. This has the effect of preventing the entire costs of pollution from being understood, often going uncounted, and being used to counteract economic arguments which are biased towards pollution control. Objectives: This study investigated air quality in the Mgbede Oil Fields of South-south Nigeria. Methods: Air quality sampling points were selected purposefully to meet the objectives of the study. Portable Real-Time Monitoring Technique was used was used for measurement. Results: From the analysis of air samples, cadmium (0.005-0.008 µg/m3) and lead (0.012ug/m3) were detected within the vicinity of the gas flare. Nickel was in the range <0.002 to 0.014 µg/m3 with highest concentrations in the gas flare area. Total suspended particles were within acceptable limits (120 ug/m3) in all locations with PM10 component above standards in the vicinity of the gas flare (20.6-22.6 ug/m3). Zinc was in the range <0.002 to 0.014 ug/m3 with maximum concentrations around the gas flare site. Although these concentrations are well within the acceptable daily exposure range but could be associated with exacerbations in risks of paediatric asthma. NOx ranged between 0.038-0.058 ug/m3 in the study area and falls above standards (0.04 ug/m3) in over 80% of sampled locations. Highest concentrations (0.058 ug/m3) were found around the flare area. SO2 was only detected at concentrations above acceptable limits within the gas flare site at Ebocha. Conclusion: The study therefore concluded that air quality in the area is not only negatively influenced by continuous gas flaring but occur at levels above acceptable international standards where environmental health could be adversely affected. Relocation of all homesteads within 1km radius of the gas flare with adequate compensation for inhabitants with improvement in healthcare delivery; and the establishment of a special health insurance trust fund for long-term exposure to pollutants from oil producing activities are among recommendations. Additionally, since this public health issue necessitates environmental health policies to reduce air pollution, efforts to battle the massive air pollution issues in the Niger Delta and its environmental quality must be combined by worldwide mitigation.

Identification of the spatial patterns of air pollution and its sources in Ogui New Layout, South-East of Nigeria, using remote sensing and GIS technology

“…It is the deadliest form of environmental pollution recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a significant indicator of the status of the environment. In large cities around the world where a substantial percentage of gas emissions are produced by urban activities and residents, air pollution has become a significant environmental issue (Adams and Kanaroglou, 2016;Patton et al, 2016;Raimi et al, 2018a;Clinton-Ezekwe et al, 2022). Harmful substances released into the atmosphere lower the quality of air and this impact negatively on the quality of life.…”

“…Developing countries in Africa (e.g. Nigeria, Egypt and Ghana) are faced with increase in industries and population outburst (Clinton-Ezekwe et al, 2022), hence there is very high level of smoke from industries, automobile exhaust fumes. Over half of the pollution load in cities is due to automobile exhaust as a result of motorization without proper management of traffic (Bada et al, 2019;Raimi et al, 2021).…”

“…Over half of the pollution load in cities is due to automobile exhaust as a result of motorization without proper management of traffic (Bada et al, 2019;Raimi et al, 2021). The negative impact of transportation in cities are now obvious due to the deteriorating urban air quality (Erisman and Larsen, 2013;Clinton-Ezekwe et al, 2022).…”

“…Exposure to air contaminants is associated with a variety of unfavorable health outcomes such as respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, asthma flareups, decreased lung function, death etc (Erisman and Larsen, 2013;Raimi et al, 2021;Clinton-Ezekwe et al, 2022). Ozcan (2012) and Raimi et al (2018a) are of the view that air pollution causes a variety of disease in urban areas like irritation of the eye, nose and throat, respiratory infections, allergies, asthma, and lung cancer.…”

Geochemical Background and Correlation Study of Ground Water Quality in Ebocha-Obrikom of Rivers State, Nigeria

“…This is the case of exposure to several reports by different authors [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . Thus, human reliance on groundwater resources has increased dramatically in the last 50-60 years as a result of climate change, rapid urbanization, agricultural development and intensification, food scarcity, population growth and industrialization [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] , as well as changed consumption patterns pose a remarkable challenge and are contributing toward the rise in groundwater pollution, which has become a severe environmental/public health concern in Rivers State's Ebocha-Obrikom Area in recent years [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] . Pollution and a scarcity of surface water are two main causes contributing to the growing demand for groundwater resources.…”