An environmental health expert, Professor Oladapo Okareh, has highlighted the severity of the menace of plastic waste, noting that microplastics are now found in human sperm and toothpaste.
Professor Okareh said this while representing the Provost, College of Medicine and the Dean, Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan at the World Environment Day event organised by the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and anchored by the Environmental Health Students Association (EHSA) in collaboration with some NGOs including Child Health Environment and Safety Trust (CHEST) and NextGen. Participants were drawn from Oyo State Ministry of Environment, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), School of Hygiene Eleyele and other participants from within and outside the university community.
Professor Okareh said that findings from a completed thesis that is yet to be published showed that samples of some toothpaste brands purchased within the country contained microplastics. He also added that according to a published research work, microplastics had been found in human sperm.
“Plastics are useful, but when they become waste, they become a nuisance to the environment. This has been a challenge of global interest,” he said.
“The solution lies with all of us here,” he added, as he called for a concerted and coordinated effort by government and the public to tackle plastic pollution.
In his speech, Dr Oyewale Morakinyo, Acting Head of Department of Environmental Health Sciences, said, “Plastic pollution is a major problem in Nigeria. A recent research identified the country as a plastic pollution hotspot, second to India. India emits 9.3 million tonnes of plastic into the environment each year – one fifth of the global total. Nigeria emits 3.5 million tonnes annually. Plastic pollution is a major environmental challenge threatening our health, ecosystems, and the sustainability of our planet.”
The Acting Director, NESREA, Southwest Zone, Mr Peniel Jack, noted that NESREA has been enforcing regulations on plastics, adding that with improvement of technology, “we are trying to bring the regulation to fit into the current knowledge available so we can curb the menace.”
The event witnessed competitions including debate and poetry, arts/crafts exhibition and tree planting. The climax was the presentation of trophy to the school, Abadina College University of Ibadan, that came tops overall.
The environmental competition trophy was instituted by the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, but donated by CHEST to support environment programmes in schools.
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