By Raphael Ede
Enugu
Residents of Enugu state especially Oji community have been warned against dangers associated with Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) on humans and its environment resulting from the thermal electric power station sited in the community.
The PCBs are one of the 23 classes of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), identified by the United Nations Environment Programme as highly persistent and toxic chemicals found in electric transformer and capacity oil capable of causing cancer and other debilitating ailments when people come in direct contact with it.
Other open applications of PCBs include plasticizers, carbonless copy paper, lubricating oils, ink solvents, laminating and impregnating agents, paints, adhesives, waxes, additives in cement and plaster casting agents, dedusting agents, sealing liquids, fire retardants, immersion oils and pesticide extenders.
Speaking before embarking on a road show to sensitise the people of Oji River on the dangers of the PCBs organised by the Federal Ministry of Environment in conjunction with Global Environment Facility (GEF) and World Bank, recently the project coordinator of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Management Project, Mrs. Stella Mojekwu, said the awareness campaign was in compliance national obligations under the United Nations Convention and in order to protect Nigerian from adverse effect of PCBs.
The Project Coordinator, who was represented at the occasion by General Manager, Health Safety and Environment, Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Engr. Olisa Okoli, said Oji was chosen for the Road Show/Awareness Campaign to sensitise them on the danger of PCBs because Oji is housing one of the biggest power station in the country.
Okoli went down the memory lane and explained how Nigeria came about PCBS.
According to him, Nigeria never produced any PCBs until the 1940s when she began to import transformers.
He said: “Nigeria was never known to produce PCBs. However, between the late 1940s and early 1980, the country imported a good deal of PCB containing equipment, such as transformers, capacitors and ballasts, as well as paint additives, hydraulic fluid additives, etc. The most prevalent use of dielectric fluid was in electrical equipment, such as power transformers, in which the oil alone could weigh thousands of kilogrammes.”
