Are you a lover of the popular point and kill fish delicacy, particularly those of you who live in Onitsha, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar? This news may not be palatable to you. An expert, Dr. John-Paul Unyimadu, has warned on the dangers of consuming fish from the rivers. He rather recommended only those from fish ponds. He posited that our rivers have been polluted by unhealthy chemical known as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB). PCBs are organic pollutants found mostly in transformer and capacitor oils and are harmful to humans, plants and animals.
At a one-day workshop held for journalists in Enugu on the dangers of PCBs, an environmental expert and National Technical Consultant to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. John-Paul Unyimadu said no part of the Lagos Lagoon, particularly the Ijora axis, is safe for the fish and other living organisms in the water.
Unyimadu raised similar alarm about the Onitsha part of the River Niger where findings, he said, have shown a huge concentration of a harmful chemical that could cause cancer, reproductive and development toxicity, impaired immune function, negative effects on the central nervous system as well as other deadly health problems to both humans and other living organisms that come in contact with it.
The expert revealed this while delivering a lecture entitled “PCBs: Concentrations in Sediments, Fish and Surface Water in Selected Locations in Nigeria.”
Dr. Unyimadu said due to the high level of chemical Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) in the Ijora area of the Lagoon and Onitsha axis of the River Niger, fish and other living organisms in those bodies of water have become endangered species.
“No part of Lagos Lagoon is safe now when you talk of the levels of the PCBs in the water,” Dr. Unyimadu said.
He added: “In the Ijora Power Station area of the Lagoon, any living organism in that water is in danger depending on the level of PCBs and if organism is endangered, it means that man is also endangered.
“Of the two locations, Ijora is much polluted. Then River Niger, the Onitsha axis of the river is also much polluted because manufacturers of plastic products and paints dump certain things that contain PCBs inside the river.”
The workshop entitled, “Polychlorinated Biphenyls(PCBs): Understanding Their Health and Environmental Impact,” was organised by the Nigeria Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Management Project, Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the World Bank, Global Environment Fund and Moriah-Marketstrides Consortium Communications Consultants.
Unyimadu recalled that way back in 1921, some chemists discovered and began manufacturing a certain chemical element known as Polychlorinated Biphenyls, also known as PCBs which are in the class of “organic compound found to be fire-resistant, stable and non-conductive to electricity and of very low volatility under normal conditions.”
He explained that due to its characteristics, the chemical was used in the manufacture of certain oils that became vital in the operation of power conductors and electric equipment. “Electricity transformers became most efficient, running on the oil laced with PCBs.
“Also, other lesser grade conductors such as electricity generating sets, capacitors used in lighting fixtures were designed to run on PCBs-laden oil, otherwise known as dielectric fluid.
“Besides, industries adopted PCB-based oil as heat transfer fluids and a coolant for high temperature processes just as PCB-laden oil was very essential in the manufacture of plasticisers in sealants, caulking, synthetic resins rubbers, paints, waxes and asphalts.
“With the discovery and manufacture of PCB containing oils, electricity processing and distribution processes became more efficient and manufacturing industries also started running more efficient machinery. PCBs and PCB-based oils were therefore of immense value and benefits to mankind, since 1921, through the years to recent time.
“In fact, by early 1929, the characteristics associated with PCBs made it ideal for many industrial applications and for the manufacture of many consumer products. The use became more predominant between 1950 and 1970,” he said.
However, in the early 1980s, it was discovered that the all-important PCBs contains toxic properties that are harmful to every living thing – man, animal and even the environment.
“Due to the dangerous effects of PCBs, it was banned worldwide. In early 1980s, PCBs were classified among the 21 most dangerous chemicals marked for complete elimination at a Stockholm Convention of 2001,” Unyimadu said.
“The transformer oil we were using in those days has become harmful today. People should be very careful about what they eat and how they live,” he warned.
The objective of the workshop which is billed to hold in three major cities of Lagos, Kaduna and Enugu is to sensitise the public on the dangers of living with PCBs.
