ENVIROMENTAL EFFECT OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

By OG Uchendu

ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA

Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, pollution became a major problem with the introduction of the steam engine and a series of technological advances that led to the production of goods shifting from homes and small factories to large industrial factories. The invention of more productive processes to manufacture cotton textiles contributed greatly to the number of mills located in Nigeria. The steam engine allowed capitalists to transfer their manufacturing plants away from naturally flowing waters (outside the city) to areas inside and around cities where more abundant labor was available. Pollution increased because of the more concentrated conditions within the industrializing cities and because of the use of artificially produced power (such as coal) that replaced the natural power of fast-running rivers.

 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA

 Environment as the name implies simply means our surroundings and natural world.
Some of the natural things among us include:
1. Trees
2. Mountains
3. Rivers
4. Air

As beautiful as our environment looks, there are still other things that make our environment not to be conducive for us; this will lead us to environmental pollution.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Environmental pollution is defined as the release of toxic harmful substances into the environment by their natural force or man and his resources. In their words environmental pollution is the release of harmful substances into the environment that are harmful to man, these substances are called pollutants.

There are four major types of environmental pollution, this include:
1. Air pollution
2. Land pollution
3. Water pollution
4. Noise pollution

AIR POLLUTION: This is a pollution that affects the air around us.

SOURCES OF OUR POLLUTION
1. Burning from vehicle exhaust, coal mining and cement factory
2. Industrial processes such as electric plants that use radioactive substances.
3. Burning of fuel in cars, other combustion engines and some industrial processes

EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION
1. It causes suffocation
2. It causes irritation of the eye, lungs and skin
3. It irritates the respiration system
4. It reduces visibility

CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION
1. Chemical waste should discharge into the air through fumes chambers.
2. Industries should be sited far away from residential areas.
3. Conditions must be created for complete combustion of fuel in internal combustion engines

LAND POLLUTION : It is the pollution that affects our land

SOURCES OF LAND POLLUTION
1. Refuse from homes, offices, industries and markets
2. Sewage from homes and offices
3. Chemical waste from industries
4. Oil drilling or oil spillage

EFFECTS OF LAND POLLUTION
1. It causes offensive odour when refuse decay
2. It can cause respiratory disorder
3. It destroys plants and animals life
4. I prevents proper use of land

CONTROL OF LAND POLLUTION
1. Refuse should be burnt in incinerators
2. Sewage should be properly treated before disposal
3. Urban waste should be burnt or braced

WATER POLLUTION: This is the pollution that affects our water.

SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

1. Sewage from city sewage city system
2. Chemical wastes from industries and ships
3. Excreta or faces from humans and animals
4. Oil spillage
5. pesticide washed by erosion from farms

EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
1. It makes water unfit for human consumption
2. It destroys aquatic plants and animals
3. It produces unpleasant odours
4. It serve as a medium for the growth of pathogens

CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION
1. Their should be efficient and proper sewage disposal system
2. Dumping of refuse or petrol-chemical by-products into river should be avoided
3. Government or local authorities should strictly monitor all industrial waste.
4. Industries should be sited far away from residential areas.

NOISE POLLUTION

SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. Noise from factories
2. Thunder noise
3. Aeroplane and car noise
4. Generator noise

EFFECTS OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. It causes loss of hearing or deafness
2. It can cause emotional disorder
3. It can cause high blood pressure

CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. There should be reduction of noise from loud speakers and car sans
2. Railway and airport should be sited far away from residential areas
3. There should be installation of soundproof in industries and generators

CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION

1. Lack of Policies to Control Pollution: Lack of effective policies and poor enforcement drive allowed many industries to bypass laws made by pollution control board which resulted in mass scale pollution that affected lives of many people.

2. Unplanned Industrial Growth: In most industrial townships, unplanned growth took place wherein those companies flouted rules and norms and polluted the environment with both air and water pollution.

3. Use of Outdated Technologies: Most industries still rely on old technologies to produce products that generate large amount of waste. To avoid high cost and expenditure, many companies still make use of traditional technologies to produce high end products.

4. Presence of Large Number of Small Scale Industries: Many small scale industries and factories that don’t have enough capital and rely on government grants to run their day-to-day businesses often escape environment regulations and release large amount of toxic gases in the atmosphere.

5. Inefficient Waste Disposal: Water pollution and soil pollution are often caused directly due to inefficiency in disposal of waste. Long term exposure to polluted air and water causes chronic health problems, making the issue of industrial pollution into a severe one. It also lowers the air quality in surrounding areas which causes many respiratory disorders.

6. Leaching of Resources From Our Natural World: Industries do require large amount of raw material to make them into finished products.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Environment as I have earlier stated include everything around us. But there are certain thing that has made this environment not to be suitable for us, which I termed environmental pollution.
Environmental pollution is of four types: Air, Water, Land and Noise.
Environmental pollution can cause respiratory disorder, bad drinking water, offensive odour, irritating environment e.t.c.
 

We can check the environmental pollution by providing proper sewage line, burning of bin waste in incinerator, locating of industries far from residential areas e.t.c. if this and many more are implied our environment will be suitable for us.