@phdthesis{AbduDanja2010, author = {Abdu Danja, Bertha}, title = {Analysis of analytical methods in environmental pollution control: a case study of some Nigerian environmental laboratories}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus-19618}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Scientific data and results have to be accurate, precise and reliable and are subject to ever increasing scrutiny by regulators in industry, the environment and medicine, in validation and also in research and development. Given our numerous environmental problems, the need for accurate, precise and reliable results can not be overemphasized in environmental pollution control. In the light of this analytical environmentalists believe that there is need for a hierarchical scheme of methods to be used in environmental assessment studies. In this research the state and role of analytical instruments in environmental pollution control in Nigeria were studied with a focus on the state of the Nigerian environmental pollution control laboratories. A theoretical background of this work gives an overview of the state of the art of the environment globally and that of Nigeria. This work has established that, because mankind have put thousands of chemical substances to use in this century, there are many chemicals that have found their way into the natural environment in large quantities. Because of the nature of the environmental problems mankind is facing now, many researchers and manufacturers are dedicated to using and providing quality new and reliable instrumentation methods to ensure a healthy environment in our world. A brief study of Nigeria as the country of research is made to establish the background of possible problems. From the facts gathered in the literature Nigeria has the economic tools that it needs to put a good environmental management scheme in place, which includes good standards, laws, regulations and good analytical laboratories for compliance and monitoring. However the research has established that these economic tools are not effectively used in the management of environmental pollution control, especially monitoring of environmental pollutants. The research was undertaken by visiting four analytical laboratories involved in environmental pollution control in Nigeria, and three organizations that are the main environmental regulatory bodies in Nigeria. The analytical laboratories visited are those of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Kaduna, Ashaka cement factory, regional laboratory of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources Gombe, and the National Reference laboratory Lagos. In these laboratories and the organizations, results were collected in the laboratories, interviews were carried out and analytical instruments available were documented. It was discovered that, in these laboratories many standard analytical instruments needed for quality environmental pollution control and monitoring are lacking. Comparison of results generated in these laboratories with some from developed countries, revealed that many parameters measured in laboratories in developed countries are not measured in the research laboratories. The results obtained in these laboratories met Nigeria' maximum limits in some cases, but exceeded it in many cases. It is the position of this work that the gap between the environmental analytical instruments found in literature and developed countries, and that found in Nigeria is very large and calls for concern. The environmental regulatory bodies in Nigeria have many laws, rules, regulations and standards for environmental pollution control. These regulations, standards, laws and rules were compared with what is obtained in other countries of the world, especially developed countries and found to be lacking in many areas. The way and manner the analytical methods are stated in the Nigerian regulations and standards are way below the developed countries standard. This research concludes that the regulations and standards have big influence on the kind of environmental analytical instruments found in the environmental analytical laboratories in Nigeria. The final conclusion this study has reached is that analytical methods, equipments, and standards on ground in Nigeria are not sufficient for the purpose of good environmental pollution control and monitoring. The situations as regards analytical instruments, analytical methods, standards and guidelines used in environmental pollution control in Nigeria do not favourably compare to international situations. It is therefore recommended that the need for validity and reliability in data collection, analysis, guidelines, standards and use of data in environmental pollution control needs to be addressed by the Nigerian Government if monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals and environmental pollution control in general is to be effective.}, subject = {Nigeria; Industrie; Umweltverschmutzung; Analytische Methode; Umwelt; Analytisches Instrument; Nigerianische Industrie; Umweltverschmutzung; Standard; Environment; Analytical instrument; Nigerian industry; Pollution control; Standard}, language = {en} }