Environmental toxicants in soils and waters of selected industrial areas in Nigeria

Abstract

In developing countries, the heavy health risk due to the exposures to environmental pollution is usually higher where lack of investment in trendy technology, weak environmental legislation combines with impoverishment to cause high pollution levels. Association between environmental pollution and health outcome are however, complex and often poorly characterized. Levels of exposure, for example are often uncertain or unknown as a result of the lack of detailed monitoring and inevitable variations within any population group. Exposures may occur via a range of pathways and exposure processes [1]. Individual pollutants maybe implicated in a wide range of health effects, whereas few diseases are directly attributable to single pollutants [2] - [4]. Long latency times, the effects of cumulative exposures, and multiple exposures to different pollutants which might act synergistically all create difficulties in unravelling associations between environmental pollution and health [5]. About 8-9% of the total disease burden maybe attributed to pollution but considerably more in developing countries unsafe water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene are seen to be the major sources of exposure, along with indoor air pollution [6], [7]. Despite the major efforts that have been made over recent years to clean up the environment, pollution remains a major problem and poses continuing risks to health [8]. The problems are undoubtedly greatest in the developing world where traditional sources of pollution such as industrial emissions poor sanitation, inadequate waste management, contaminated water supplies and exposures to indoor air pollution from biomass fuels affect large numbers of people however, and environmental pollution persists most especially amongst poorer sectors of society [9] - [11]. The need to address the health risk associated with environmental pollution and check becomes more urgent; thus brought the objective of this work as human beings become the victims of various water borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, jaundice etc. The presence of acids/alkalis in water destroys the microorganisms thereby hindering the self-purification process in the rivers or water bodies; agriculture is affected badly due to polluted water. Poisonous industrial wastes are present in water bodies thus affect the quality of underground water for drinking, phytoplankton and animals living in fresh water [12]. The degree of toxicity can vary depending on where the organism is found within its food web. Bioaccumulation occurs when molecular compounds are stored in an organism’s fatty tissues over time, this leads to the establishment of a trophic cascade and the bio magnifications of specific toxicants. Bio-degradation releases CO2 and water as by-products into the environment. This process is typically limited in areas affected by environmental toxicants but the harmful effects of chemical and biological agents can include toxicants from pollutants, insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers, all of which can impact an organism and its community through shifts in species diversity and abundance [13].