IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL EMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH: A CASE STUDY OF CEMENT COMPANY IN OGUN STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the study

During the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, pollution became a major problem with the introduction of the steam engine and a series of technological advances that led to the production of goods and services, shifting it from homes and small factories to large industrial factories. The invention of more productive processes to manufacture cotton textiles contributed greatly to the number of mills located in England and later in the Northeastern United States.

Industrial pollution is particle especially waste gases like carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides which are the waste products of industry and end up in the air. Industrial emissions are the second largest pollutants of the atmosphere after automotive exhausts (Gull, Ali, Hussain, Nawaz&Mushta 2013). During the Industrial Revolution, companies were virtually concerned with production and profits. There was little time for or concern with the effects of pollution. Companies were by and large concerned with the means of production rather than the effect of production on the environment.

Cement production releases various pollutants into the environment. These may give rise to complaints of terrestrial or ambient air pollution. In Nigeria, deficiencies in both the monitoring of environmental performance and the compliance of many industries have been exploited by some plant operators. Consequently, several host communities and their environments are at risk from the negative impacts of such industrial activities.

In Ogun state, Cement production releases various pollutants into the environment. These may give rise to complaints of terrestrial or ambient air pollution. In Nigeria, deficiencies in both the monitoring of environmental performance and the compliance of many industries have been exploited by some plant operators. Consequently, several host communities and their environments are at risk from the negative impacts of such industrial activities.

IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL EMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH: A CASE STUDY OF CEMENT COMPANY IN OGUN STATE