Professor Cajetan Onyedum
Janet Ogundepo
Lately, environmental experts have reported a rise in air pollution, prompting pulmonologists to fear a surge in chronic inflammatory lung diseases.
This warning is coming on the heels of a comprehensive analysis of air quality and health impact data for countries worldwide in 2021 by the State of Global Air, published in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund, last week.
The report, released by the Health Effects Institute, revealed that air pollution was responsible for the deaths of 8.1 million people globally, in 2021.
It further found out that children under the age of five are vulnerable to air pollution and was responsible for over 700,000 child deaths in 2021.
PUNCH Healthwise earlier reported that children were more vulnerable to air pollution and that young children’s exposure to air pollution has resulted in one in five deaths globally.
Reacting to the report, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Kitty van der Heijden, said about 2,000 children under the age of five die daily from the negative effects of air pollution.
She said, “Despite progress in maternal and child health, every day almost 2,000 children under five years die because of health impacts linked to air pollution.
“Our inaction is having profound effects on the next generation, with lifelong health and well-being impacts. The global urgency is undeniable. It is imperative governments and businesses consider these estimates and locally available data and use it to inform meaningful, child-focused action to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health.”
According to the World Health Organisation, air pollution is the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that changes the natural characteristics of the atmosphere and affects human health.
An air quality monitoring and data website, IQAir, reports that Abuja is the most polluted city in Nigeria.
Its 2023 air quality average further reveals that Nigeria’s particulate matter concentration, known as PM2.5 is 4.8 times higher than the World Health’s Organisation air quality guideline value.
The SoGA report reveals that Nigeria’s average exposure to PM2.5 in 2019 was 51.7 and 56.5 in 2020.
A check of all the average exposure from 1990 to 2010 showed that 2015 had the highest exposure mean with 77.1 PM2.5.
This implies that in 2015, Nigeria’s outdoor air pollution rate was high.
Meanwhile, the WHO’s 2015 recommended annual air quality guideline level for PM2.5 was set at five, with a maximum of 15 on only three to four days per year.
A conference paper presented at the Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Thoracic Society, 2022 on ‘Air pollution profile of Children with asthma in Lagos, Nigeria’, written by Olufunke Adeyeye, et al, found out that children were exposed to fine particulate matters at school while commuting and at home.
Prof Adeyeye
It further notes that the average PM 2.5 is 1.5 times higher than the current WHO 24-hour PM2.5 exposure health guideline, consequently predisposing children to increased asthma symptoms, medication use and hospitalisation.
Speaking on the issue, a Professor of Pulmonology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Cajetan Onyedum, said the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels, lack of regulation on the allowable levels of emissions from factories and poor public supply of energy were huge contributors to air pollution in Nigeria.
He also pointed out that the slow transition to clean energy and the prevalence of wildfires contributed to the air pollution levels.
Further speaking on the implications of the SoGA report on the respiratory health of Nigerians, Onyedum stated that there could be an increase in diseases of the respiratory tract.
“For example, patients are going to come down with diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Also, exposure to air pollution over time is known to have some ability to cause cancer because the particulate matter that is suspended and inhaled, either at work or home environment, would lead to some changes in the body cells.
“So, cancers and COPD will be prevalent. Also, cardiovascular diseases are known to be caused and aggravated by air pollution. So it poses a big risk to the prevalence of some of these diseases,” the Consultant Respiratory Physician said.
He further noted that if air pollution continues and children remain exposed, they risk developing various respiratory diseases in the future, including asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease and allergic rhinitis.
Regulate emission rate
Speaking on the way out, the pulmonologist advised persons working in environments with poor air quality to wear appropriate face masks and leave such places, if possible.
“But most importantly, the government must be involved in regulation, putting things in place, providing safe energy, regulating the kind of cars that are used in the country and the environment in which factories are established. Doing this will help everybody,” he said.
The Researcher on Lung Infections and Asthma called for the regulation of emission levels for factories to ensure a safer environment for Nigerians.
“There needs to be regulation such that if a company is being situated, we need to know what is being emitted and the appropriate place it can be situated. That way, someone cannot just wake up one morning and site any factory anywhere and pollute the air in such an environment,” he said.
The don also decried the lack of local national figures and called for concerted action and efforts from both the government and healthcare providers to provide education on the dangers of exposure to air pollution.
“So, these figures being released portends a lot of danger to what we might be seeing in years to come. And the earlier we start looking at how to control it, like what I said about government regulations and lifestyle adjustment and even wearing a protective mask, the better for everybody,” the respiratory specialist said.
Air pollution worsens children’s health
In an interview with PUNCH Healthwise, Adeyeye, who is a pulmonologist at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, emphasised that children’s exposure to air pollution worsens their health conditions.
She said consequently, this leads to an increased need for medication and hospital visits, causing them to miss school, reduce family income, and lower their quality of life.
The don noted that common sources of air pollution include household combustion devices, cleaning agents and aerosols, motor vehicles, industrial facilities, power generation, factories, bush burning, and forest fires.
Adeyeye added that particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and environmental tobacco smoke are pollutants of major public health concern.
“According to WHO, almost all of the global population, 99 per cent, breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits and contains high levels of pollutants, with low and middle-income countries suffering from the highest exposures.
“It can be acute, following short-term exposure or chronic, following long-term exposure. Also, it affects all ages from when in the womb to old age and the effect is more in vulnerable groups, the young, elderly and those with underlying respiratory or cardiac conditions,” she said.
Adeyeye asserted that if nothing was done to reduce the levels of air pollution, it could lead to premature death, lung cancer, worsening of lung conditions like COPD, asthma, cardiac disease, stroke, increased hospital visits and frequent lung infection.
The consultant respiratory physician also mentioned that the economic crisis would further worsen the air pollution problem in the country, stating that the situation had forced people to resort to using charcoal, wood, sawdust and agricultural residues for cooking.
She decried the low levels of awareness and advocacy and urged Nigerians to embrace the government’s provision of mass transit buses and trains to further reduce vehicular exhaust and traffic.
Speaking on the way out, the don called for a ban on indoor and outdoor smoking and the promotion of clean fuel for cooking and heating.
She emphasised that emission testing at the Vehicle and Inspection Office of the Ministry of Transportation must be truly conducted without individuals bribing their way out of the test.
“Candidly, the purchasing power of Nigerians needs to improve to support any initiative. However education, enlightenment and advocacy are important,” Adeyeye stressed.
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