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Western Kenya Community Monitor
Residents of Webuye Breathing Highly Toxic Air
Webuye, 28 November 2007Contact Person: Anastasia Otieno [RECONCILE], Eliud Kakai [CEDEP]
Air samples taken in Webuye town reveal that people living near Pan African Paper Mills are breathing highly toxic air. Recent lab tests show that the levels of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyls sulfide in the air in Webuye town are far above international health-based standards. In addition, water samples taken at Pan African Paper Mills’ point of discharge into the Nzoia River show that the mill has been discharging untreated water into the river.
Eliud Kakai executive Director of Centre for Environmental and Development education Programmes (CEDEP), says: “The Pan African Pape ..excessively from irritation of the eyes and nose, cough, breathlessness, nausea, headaches and mental illness, including depression. Hydrosulfuric acid is also highly corrosive and the reason for the rusted roofs in Webuye town.
Pan African Paper Mills in Western Kenya is a pulp and paper industry that uses thousands of metric tons of sodium sulfide to dissolve wood chips and other cellulose-bearing fibers. Due to this process, Pan African Paper Mills is the only industry in Webuye which is capable of producing substantial quantities of hydrogen sulfide and other reduced sulphur compounds.
Air and water quality test results
Two air samples were collected on the morning of September 22, 2007 and another one on October 23, 2007 using GCM’s bucket technology. Of the September 22 samples, the first sample was collected at a location adjacent to the Pan African Paper Mill while the second sample was collected near the mill’s wastewater pond. The air samples were analysed by Colombia Analytical Services, Inc., an accredited testing laboratory in Simi Valley, California, U.S.A.
The hydrogen sulfide in the second sample of September 22 was more than 140 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) daily guidelines and more than 3,000 times the WHO hourly guideline value.
(The WHO Guidelines Value for exposure to hydrogen sulfide is 7 micrograms per cubic metre over a 30-minute period and 150 micrograms per cubic metre over a 24-hour period.)
Methyl Mercaptan and demethly sulfide are responsible for the offensive odor around Webuye. The amounts found in both air samples are 12-17 times above the international threshold level of 2-10 ppb respectively.
Water samples taken on October 11, 2007, were tested by a local laboratory. The sample taken at the Pan African Paper Mills’ point of discharge showed that Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in the effluent was far above the limits allowed under the Environmental Management and Coordination (Water Quality) Regulations 2006.
The effluent discharged into the Nzoia River contained 4.5 and 6.2 times more BOD and COD respectively than the set limits. The BOD of the collected samples was 125 mg/l while the COD was 312 mg/l. The legal limit under the regulation is 30 mg/l and 50 mg/l respectively. The effluent colour also did not meet environmental water quality standards. The measurement of 30 Hazen units was twice the permissible limit.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a standardized means of estimating the degree of contamination from industrial wastes. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) refers to the amount of oxygen, expressed in parts per million, consumed under specific conditions in the oxidation of the organic and oxidizable inorganic matter contained in industrial waste water. Both BOD and COD are measured as a rapid indicator of organic pollutants in water.
Excessive BOD and COD can result in death of fish and other oxygen-sensitive aquatic species. In humans, excessive BOD and COD can lead to increased incidence of gastro-intestinal diseases, including diarrhea, caused by exposure to pathogenic bacteria in water.
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