EFFECTS OF AIR POLUTION ON HEALTH: A STUDY OF NIGERIA ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The quality of air individual inhale can affect their well-being as air pollution is detrimental to health and causing respiratory challenges. Air pollution is no doubt an issue of significant public interest in many developing countries and the international community at large. Therefore, air pollution health related risks are major concern in Nigeria and with various environmental challenges ranging from water pollution, air pollution, oil spillage, deforestation, desertification, erosion and flooding (resulted from bad or no drainage systems) caused mostly by human activities. Air pollution is a wide-reaching problem and it influence human population a great deal. Respiratory infection associated with air pollution is also on the increase and other predominant cause of death associated with air pollution include chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, enteric infections, diarrheal diseases, communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disease and has caused about 900 thousand deaths and 32 million people living with health related disability per annum in Nigeria. Healthy environmental sustainability is critical to improving the quality and life expectancy. Therefore, sustainable development policies and practices is essential to the policymakers to enhance a healthy life. This paper presents a review of the air pollution challenges in Nigeria and proffer some recommendation to forestall continuous air pollution health related problem. Study shows that air pollutions are not only affecting the human by time but also affecting animals and plants.