Nriagu Jerome, Udofia Emilia A, Ekong Ibanga, Ebuk Godwin
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Department of Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 13, Legon, Ghana.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Mar 21;13(3):346. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13030346.
Although there is considerable public concern about the environmental impacts of oil pollution in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, actual evidence on the pathological and psychological effects in the health of local communities is minimally known. We sought to associate the perspective measures of exposure to oil pollution with health outcomes (inventory of health symptoms and functional capacity limitations) and determine how emotional reactions to environmental risks moderate these health outcomes.
The study was conducted with 600 participants selected from five local government areas in Akwa Ibom State where oil pollution is rampant. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data on the respondents' exposure to oil pollution, self-rated health and disease symptoms, perception of risk of exposure and emotional reactions to local oil pollution.
Most of the participants lived in areas with visible oil pollution and/or near gas flaring facilities and regularly suffered direct exposure to oil in their environment. High level of emotional distress was a part of everyone's life for the study population. Risk perception in the study area was mediated, to a large extent, by dreaded hazards (catastrophic fears of pipeline explosions and oil spill fire), visual cues (gas flares and smoke stacks) and chemosensory cues (off-flavor in drinking water). The exposure metrics were found to be significant predictors of the health effects and influencing factors (emotional reactions). Multi-levels models suggest that at the individual level, the demographic variables and direct contact with oil pollution were important mediators of functional capacity limitation. At the community level, emotional distress from fear of the sources of exposure was an important mediator of the health symptoms.
This study documents high levels of disease symptoms and environmental distress (worry, annoyance and intolerance) associated with oil pollution in the Niger Delta areas of Nigeria. It highlights the need for some intervention to ameliorate the psychological distress associated with living under such environmental adversity.
尽管尼日利亚尼日尔三角洲的石油污染对环境的影响引发了公众的广泛关注，但关于当地社区健康方面的病理和心理影响的实际证据却鲜为人知。我们试图将石油污染暴露的相关指标与健康结果（健康症状清单和功能能力受限情况）联系起来，并确定对环境风险的情绪反应如何调节这些健康结果。
该研究选取了阿夸伊博姆州五个石油污染猖獗的地方政府辖区的600名参与者。使用结构化问卷收集有关受访者接触石油污染的情况、自我评估的健康和疾病症状、对接触风险的认知以及对当地石油污染的情绪反应的数据。
大多数参与者生活在有明显石油污染的地区和/或靠近天然气燃烧设施的地方，经常直接接触环境中的石油。对研究人群来说，高度的情绪困扰是每个人生活的一部分。在很大程度上，研究区域内的风险认知是由可怕的危害（对管道爆炸和石油泄漏火灾的灾难性恐惧）、视觉线索（天然气火焰和烟囱）以及化学感官线索（饮用水中的异味）介导的。发现暴露指标是健康影响和影响因素（情绪反应）的重要预测指标。多层次模型表明，在个体层面，人口统计学变量和与石油污染的直接接触是功能能力受限的重要介导因素。在社区层面，对接触源的恐惧所导致的情绪困扰是健康症状的重要介导因素。
本研究记录了尼日利亚尼日尔三角洲地区与石油污染相关的高水平疾病症状和环境困扰（担忧、烦恼和不耐受）。它强调了需要采取一些干预措施来缓解与生活在这种环境逆境下相关的心理困扰。
