EXPOSURE TO BLACK SOOT REDUCED THE REPRODUCTIVE POTENTIALS OF MALE WISTAR RATS BY INDUCING OXIDATIVE STRESS AND APOPTOSIS IN THE TESTIS AND HYPOTHALAMUS.

SUMMARY

Residents of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Nigeria, and its environs have since the last quarter of 2016 been experiencing adverse environmental impacts of particle (soot) pollution. This “double air pollution burden”—the unresolved prevailing widespread air pollution and the “added” emergence of particle pollution considered an environmental health threat, led to protests against government inaction in some parts of the state. In February 2017, several months following the onset of the pollution, the government declared an Emergency, and set up a Task Force to investigate and find a solution to the problem. Global research suggests that particle pollution correlates positively with a range of morbidities and an increased risk of mortality among exposed populations (Yakubu, 2017). The source of the black soot is mainly attributed to illegal refining and bunkering of petroleum products which has become rampant in the region. Additionally, security operatives saddled with the responsibility of checking the activities of these illegal artisan refining of petroleum products contribute considerably to this problem by setting seized products on fire and letting out more soot into the environment.