Kponee Kalé Zainab, Chiger Andrea, Kakulu Iyenemi Ibimina, Vorhees Donna, Heiger-Bernays Wendy
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Environ Health. 2015 Nov 6;14:86. doi: 10.1186/s12940-015-0073-0.
The 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.
We 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.
Our 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).
Our 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.
石油资源丰富的尼日尔三角洲遭受了广泛的石油污染。在奥戈尼兰地区开展了一项试点研究，其中一个社区奥加勒的饮用水井被一种精炼石油产品高度污染。在2011年的一项研究中，联合国环境规划署（UNEP）对奥加勒的饮用水井进行了采样，检测到大量石油碳氢化合物，包括苯，其浓度比美国环境保护局（USEPA）的饮用水标准高出多达1800倍。UNEP建议立即提供清洁饮用水、医疗监测以及开展一项前瞻性队列研究。尽管尼日利亚政府已提供了应急饮用水，但UNEP的其他建议尚未得到落实。我们旨在：（i）通过调查与接触受污染水相关的健康症状来跟进UNEP的建议；（ii）评估政府提供的应急饮用水的充足性和使用情况。
我们从奥加勒和一个参照社区埃泰奥招募了200名参与者，并发放问卷以调查用水情况、感知到的水安全性以及自我报告的健康症状。
我们的多变量回归分析显示，接触奥加勒的饮用水与自我报告的与石油接触相符的健康症状之间存在统计学上的显著关联。奥加勒的参与者更频繁地报告了与神经学影响（比值比[OR]=2.8）、血液学影响（OR=3.3）和刺激（OR=2.7）相关的健康症状。
我们的结果是来自一个依赖苯和其他碳氢化合物浓度极高的饮用水的社区的首批结果。持续的接触以及这些试点研究结果凸显了按照UNEP的建议进行更精细调查的必要性。
