Petroleum contaminated water and health symptoms: a cross-sectional pilot study in a rural Nigerian community

Environmental Health

Research

Wendy Heiger-Bernays¹  Andrea Chiger¹  Donna Vorhees¹  Kalé Zainab Kponee²  Iyenemi Ibimina Kakulu³ 

[1] Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St. T4W, 02118, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Epidemiology, Harvard University School of Public Health, 02115, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Environmental Health, Harvard University School of Public Health, 02115, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Estate Management, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria;

关键词: Petroleum hydrocarbons;    Drinking water;    Contamination;    Public health;    Refined oil;    Adverse health effects;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12940-015-0073-0

 received in 2015-06-11, accepted in 2015-10-28,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe oil-rich Niger Delta suffers from extensive petroleum contamination. A pilot study was conducted in the region of Ogoniland where one community, Ogale, has drinking water wells highly contaminated with a refined oil product. In a 2011 study, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) sampled Ogale drinking water wells and detected numerous petroleum hydrocarbons, including benzene at concentrations as much as 1800 times higher than the USEPA drinking water standard. UNEP recommended immediate provision of clean drinking water, medical surveillance, and a prospective cohort study. Although the Nigerian government has provided emergency drinking water, other UNEP recommendations have not been implemented. We aimed to (i) follow up on UNEP recommendations by investigating health symptoms associated with exposure to contaminated water; and (ii) assess the adequacy and utilization of the government-supplied emergency drinking water.MethodsWe recruited 200 participants from Ogale and a reference community, Eteo, and administered questionnaires to investigate water use, perceived water safety, and self-reported health symptoms.ResultsOur multivariate regression analyses show statistically significant associations between exposure to Ogale drinking water and self-reported health symptoms consistent with petroleum exposure. Participants in Ogale more frequently reported health symptoms related to neurological effects (OR = 2.8), hematological effects (OR = 3.3), and irritation (OR = 2.7).ConclusionsOur results are the first from a community relying on drinking water with such extremely high concentrations of benzene and other hydrocarbons. The ongoing exposure and these pilot study results highlight the need for more refined investigation as recommended by UNEP.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Kponee et al. 2015