**3. Municipal solid waste and inland water bodies in Nigeria**

The magnitude of changes experienced by inland water bodies as a result of MSW in Nigeria could be attributed to inappropriate siting, design, operation and maintenance of dumps and landfills. The history of the association between changes in quality of inland waters and MSW generation in Nigeria has not been adequately documented. However, classical reports [50, 51] provided a different trajectory to the narratives, where low-level perturbations reported for both the Ona River and Ogunpa River were associated with generation and disposal of MSW in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria. Inland waters in Nigeria have been on the receiving end of MSW, but the details have been patchy. Inland surface and groundwaters in the vicinity of dumpsites in Nigeria have been reported to be generally compromised, and leachates have been the most cited reason.

Dumpsites usually undergo modification of wastes [52] in the following five basic steps:


 The products of these processes include volatilized chemicals as gas, leachate and changing community of organisms, all of which have profound influence on the physical, chemical and biological conditions in the immediate surroundings.

Leachates from dumpsites and landfills have been characterized (**Table 9**) and associated with contamination of inland surface water (**Table 10**) and groundwater (**Table 11**) resources from different parts of Nigeria with profound physical, chemical and biological consequences. Aquatic life and recreational criteria [53] suggested compromise in physical and chemical qualities, due largely to the presence of dumpsites close to these water bodies. Also age and the unique composition or characteristics of wastes deposited at dumpsites will greatly influence the resultant water quality. The biotic or biological responses of resident organisms to changes as elicited by activities associated with dumpsites have not attracted deserved attention or investigation considering the ecological and public health consequences. However, limited laboratory studies on aquatic organisms, *Chironomus* sp. *Culex pipiens*, *Bufo regularis* tadpoles and *Clarias gariepinus*, using products from dumpsites in the form of leachates from Oyo [57, 58, 77] and Lagos [77, 78] States showed pronounced aberrant behavioral responses and gross morphological and genetic damages. In spite of the limited studies from Nigeria, the reports agreed with comparable reports from other parts of the world on the negative influence of products of dumpsites on surface inland waters.

Groundwater in Nigeria provides water supply for 40.1% of Nigerians [79] and is considered to be the preferred source of water for different sectors providing about 40% of water public water supply [80] underlying the importance of groundwater sources. The integrity of such groundwater is therefore of importance because of direct consequences on human health. The quality of groundwater showed the presence of substances considered dangerous to human health at concentrations above standards [53, 68] considered acceptable. The detection of cadmium, nickel,


*Municipal Solid Waste Management* 


#### *Municipal Solid Waste Management and the Inland Water Bodies: Nigerian Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84921*

**Table 9.** 

*Leachate characteristics from dumpsites and landfills from Southwest Nigeria.* 


#### *Municipal Solid Waste Management*


*Municipal Solid Waste Management and the Inland Water Bodies: Nigerian Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84921* 

> **Table 10.**

*Quality of inland surface waters receiving dumpsite/landfill effluent/products from Nigerian cities.* 


#### *Municipal Solid Waste Management*


#### *Municipal Solid Waste Management and the Inland Water Bodies: Nigerian Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84921*


**Table 11.** 

*Quality of inland groundwaters receiving dumpsite/landfill effluent/products from Nigerian cities.* 

**86** 

### *Municipal Solid Waste Management and the Inland Water Bodies: Nigerian Perspectives DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84921*

chromium, copper, lead, arsenic and aluminum and cobalt in groundwater from most locations should be a cause for concern and perhaps necessitates detailed nationwide surveillance, considering the proportion of population dependent on groundwater. The intake of these metals has been implicated in a variety of human ailments leading to severe problems via disruption of metabolic functions in two ways [81]:


 Residents around the dumpsites are partly or wholly dependent largely on either surface or groundwater for direct or indirect daily water requirements. Thus contact with these water bodies is inevitable, even at distances considered areas with no likely effects. Determination of the health implications of such contacts at present has not been clearly defined, from very limited reports on public health aspects of dumpsite managements. This is because it has not been possible to separate consequences of dumpsite contaminated surface and groundwater contacts from medical conditions associated with population living around dumpsites. Studies [82–85] reported the following: inhalation of odor, exposure to dust, exposure to smoke, exposure through water sources, consumption of plant materials, consumption of animal materials, exposure through organisms (vectors), noise from vehicles, exposure to fire, dermal contacts and exposure through domestic animals as possible routes of human exposure and contact with dumpsites and products of dumpsite modifications. Medical conditions reported from the population living close to dumpsites in different parts of Nigeria are presented in **Table 12**, which have been observed in Nigeria from areas of regular contacts with contaminated water [90] but not from dumpsites or landfills. The implication of the above is that symptoms may indicate conditions from multiple exposures or contacts. Inland waters in Nigeria have been subjected to inundations with inputs from multiple sources with resultant changes in quality. The almost hidden nature of contamination and contamination routes by dumpsites reinforces the dangers of not paying required attention to dumpsites, associated activities and value chain. This is because each step or link has an effect on inland water and hence human population making these sources of contamination very dangerous and harmful. Therefore, numerous health hazards associated with waste dump sites in major economic centres in Nigeria [27, 91, 92] can be said to be largely denominated by the resident and/or dominant waste components.

Radionuclides have also been reported and associated with dumpsites and landfills in Lagos State [93–95], Oyo State [95–97], Ogun State [98–100], Plateau State [101], Benue State [101], Ekiti State [95], Rivers State [102–105] and Delta State [106]. These dangerous natural and artificial radiation materials from unregulated and unmanaged dumpsites and landfills released into inland water sources pose risks to resident organisms and population of humans, dependent directly on water for domestic purpose and consumption of resident aquatic organisms.

 Radionuclides have been reported in leachates [102] and groundwater [102, 105, 107] and rivers [107, 108] with identified sources being the human activities, inclusive of dumpsites [102, 105] and abattoir wastes [109]. Dumpsites and landfills are therefore potential sources of radionuclide inputs into inland surface


#### **Table 12.**

*Ailments associated with population living near dumpsites.* 

 and groundwaters; the above-cited reports indicated the presence of radionuclides in soils around target dumpsites, confirming the migration of substances from dumpsites, as reported [108], using time-lapsed vertical electrical sounding (VES). This migration of materials into ground- and surface waters will facilitate exposure of resident and non-resident population to radioactive material by direct or indirect intake, respectively. Low cancer risks from chronic exposure to radiation from dumpsites in Nigeria have been suggested [97] even at the low level, thus further establishing the need for urgent management strategies for MSW in Nigeria.
