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Impacts of Waste Dumps on the Health of Neighbours: A Case Study of Olusosun Waste Dump, Ojota, Lagos State, Nigeria

Received: 14 October 2016    Accepted: 9 February 2017    Published: 27 February 2017
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Abstract

Poorly managed and wrongly sited waste dumps in living areas may serve as pathogen and epidemiology centres. Germs (viruses, bacteria and fungi) breed regularly in waste dumps and landfills. Waste dumps, incinerator plants and land-fills may emit toxic compounds that are detrimental to human health and well-being. Exposed waste dumps and land-fills are also eyesores that are social menace to the residents where they are sited. Uncontrolled waste dumps are danger zones to scavengers, mostly youths, who may tramp on infected sharp objects while searching for ‘treasure’. Waste dumps, where wastes are burnt openly, generate carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases due to burning of remnants of chemicals containing sulphide, nitrate, fluoride, benzene, nicotine, lead etc, which react with oxygen to form poisonous gases that are inhaled by residents. These antibodies affect the lung and weaken the heart and other organs in the body. Medical wastes like bandages, cotton wools, medicine containers, syringes, needles and bottles should be professionally managed because their reuse is dangerous. The objectives of this study is to examine the health implication of improper management of waste dumps, to highlight the danger in the local methods of waste management predominant in developing nations, to evaluate the various diseases caused by waste dumping sites, incinerator plants and landfills and to recommend alternative methods of waste management that will imbibe the doctrine of sustainable development. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed to draw inference on the impacts of waste dumps on public health.

Published in Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15
Page(s) 27-33
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Air-Borne Diseases, Health and Environment, Medical Wastes, Solid Waste Management, Waste Dumps

References
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[3] Bakalar, N. (2012). Air Pollution Tied to Birth Defects. Available at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/air-pollution-tied-to-birth-defects/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0S. Accessed on July 7, 2014.
[4] Chalmin, P., and Gaillochet, C. (2009). From Waste to Resource. An Abstract of World Waste Survey, 2009 Veolia/CyclOpen Research Institute Paris, France 2009 4.
[5] Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design; Qualitative and Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. London: Sage. ISBN 978-1-4522-2609-5.
[6] Daily Trust (2014). Nigeria: Cholera ravages Nigeria. Available at http://allafrica.com/stories/201404140670.html. Accessed on July 7, 2014.
[7] Hvistendahi, M. (2007). Coal Ash is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste. Scientific American, December 13, 2007. Available at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/. Accessed on July 14, 2014.
[8] Jewel, W. J. (1975). Energy, Agriculture and Waste Management, New York: Ann Arbor Science Publishers Inc, p. 1.
[9] Kimani, N. G. (2007). Environmental Pollution and Impacts on Public Health: Implications of the Dandora Municipal Dumping Site in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya: UNEP.
[10] Le Courtois, A. (2012). Municipal Solid Waste: Turning a Problem into resource. Available at http://www.proparco.fr/jahia/webdav/site/proparco/shared/PORTAILS/Secteur_prive_developpement/PDF/SPD15/SPD15_Alexandra_le_courtois_uk.pdf. Accessed on July 10, 2014.
[11] Oresanya, O. (2011). How Waste Volume Were Reduced in Lagos State. National Daily Newspaper, Sunday, July 31, 2011.
[12] Oyedele, O. A. (2014). Municipal Solid Waste Management as panacea for Wealth Creation and Econmic Development in Africa. Being paper presented at the 29th International Conference on Solid Waste (ICSW), Rdison Blu Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia, USA, April 2, 2014.
[13] Scott-Emuakpor, A. (2010). The evolution of health care systems in Nigeria: Which way forward in the twenty-first century. Nigerian Medical Journal. Available at: http://www.nigeriamedj.com/text.asp?2010/51/2/53/70997. Accessed on July 14, 2014.
[14] Stanford University (2008). "Carbon Dioxide Emissions Linked To Human Mortality." ScienceDaily, January 4, 2008. Available at: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080103135757.htm.
[15] Thomas, G. (2011). How to do your Case Study: A Guide for Students and Researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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  • APA Style

    Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, Adeniyi Olufolahan Oyedele. (2017). Impacts of Waste Dumps on the Health of Neighbours: A Case Study of Olusosun Waste Dump, Ojota, Lagos State, Nigeria. Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, 2(1), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15

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    ACS Style

    Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele; Adeniyi Olufolahan Oyedele. Impacts of Waste Dumps on the Health of Neighbours: A Case Study of Olusosun Waste Dump, Ojota, Lagos State, Nigeria. J. Civ. Constr. Environ. Eng. 2017, 2(1), 27-33. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15

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    AMA Style

    Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, Adeniyi Olufolahan Oyedele. Impacts of Waste Dumps on the Health of Neighbours: A Case Study of Olusosun Waste Dump, Ojota, Lagos State, Nigeria. J Civ Constr Environ Eng. 2017;2(1):27-33. doi: 10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15,
      author = {Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele and Adeniyi Olufolahan Oyedele},
      title = {Impacts of Waste Dumps on the Health of Neighbours:  A Case Study of Olusosun Waste Dump, Ojota, Lagos State, Nigeria},
      journal = {Journal of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering},
      volume = {2},
      number = {1},
      pages = {27-33},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jccee.20170201.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jccee.20170201.15},
      abstract = {Poorly managed and wrongly sited waste dumps in living areas may serve as pathogen and epidemiology centres. Germs (viruses, bacteria and fungi) breed regularly in waste dumps and landfills. Waste dumps, incinerator plants and land-fills may emit toxic compounds that are detrimental to human health and well-being. Exposed waste dumps and land-fills are also eyesores that are social menace to the residents where they are sited. Uncontrolled waste dumps are danger zones to scavengers, mostly youths, who may tramp on infected sharp objects while searching for ‘treasure’. Waste dumps, where wastes are burnt openly, generate carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases due to burning of remnants of chemicals containing sulphide, nitrate, fluoride, benzene, nicotine, lead etc, which react with oxygen to form poisonous gases that are inhaled by residents. These antibodies affect the lung and weaken the heart and other organs in the body. Medical wastes like bandages, cotton wools, medicine containers, syringes, needles and bottles should be professionally managed because their reuse is dangerous. The objectives of this study is to examine the health implication of improper management of waste dumps, to highlight the danger in the local methods of waste management predominant in developing nations, to evaluate the various diseases caused by waste dumping sites, incinerator plants and landfills and to recommend alternative methods of waste management that will imbibe the doctrine of sustainable development. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed to draw inference on the impacts of waste dumps on public health.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AB  - Poorly managed and wrongly sited waste dumps in living areas may serve as pathogen and epidemiology centres. Germs (viruses, bacteria and fungi) breed regularly in waste dumps and landfills. Waste dumps, incinerator plants and land-fills may emit toxic compounds that are detrimental to human health and well-being. Exposed waste dumps and land-fills are also eyesores that are social menace to the residents where they are sited. Uncontrolled waste dumps are danger zones to scavengers, mostly youths, who may tramp on infected sharp objects while searching for ‘treasure’. Waste dumps, where wastes are burnt openly, generate carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases due to burning of remnants of chemicals containing sulphide, nitrate, fluoride, benzene, nicotine, lead etc, which react with oxygen to form poisonous gases that are inhaled by residents. These antibodies affect the lung and weaken the heart and other organs in the body. Medical wastes like bandages, cotton wools, medicine containers, syringes, needles and bottles should be professionally managed because their reuse is dangerous. The objectives of this study is to examine the health implication of improper management of waste dumps, to highlight the danger in the local methods of waste management predominant in developing nations, to evaluate the various diseases caused by waste dumping sites, incinerator plants and landfills and to recommend alternative methods of waste management that will imbibe the doctrine of sustainable development. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed to draw inference on the impacts of waste dumps on public health.
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Author Information
  • Government of the State of Osun, Osun, Nigeria

  • Denifol Nigeria Enterprises, Kosofe, Lagos Sate, Nigeria

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