Nigeria: Study predicts "epidemic" of cancer in Nigeria’s oil producing region by 2025
"Study predicts ‘epidemic’ of cancer in Nigeria’s oil producing region by 2025", 27 Feb 2017
A study suggests that with the rising cases of oil spills, pipeline destruction and gas production in the Niger Delta and over-dependence on petroleum products, Nigerians are in for a massive health catastrophe...A new study published in a journal, PLOS ONE, found that young people diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia are more likely to live in areas of high-density oil and gas development compared to others diagnosed with other types of cancer...The study is titled “Childhood hematologic cancer and residential proximity to oil and gas development.”...Meanwhile, studies published in American Journal of Environmental Sciences found that more residents of the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria are at a greater risk of developing different types of cancer due to exposure to crude oil pollutants. The studies, which predict ‘epidemic’ of cancers in oil producing areas of Nigeria by 2025, stated that more than 25 per cent of Nigerians are at an increased risk of developing cancer due to exposure to toxic chemicals from crude oil pollution, Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)...