‘Oil producing areas exposed to high infertility risk’

Activities of oil producing companies have been linked to higher risk of infertility due to regular and prolonged exposure to oil and gas toxins.

President, Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), Oladapo Ashiru, said that oil fossils can lower sperm count in men.

Speaking at the 30th anniversary of the Medical Assisted Reproductive Technology (MART) Centre in Ikeja, Lagos State, Ashiru, who founded MART 30 years ago added that pesticides could affect three generations, saying that fertility rates are declining.

Delivering a lecture at the event, Ashiru revealed that people living in oil producing states in the country have been found to be experiencing fertility issues and lesser chances even with assisted reproduction.

The professor also, in his book on reproductive health and general well-being titled, ‘Man Know Thyself,’ explained that aside from the chemicals and activities of oil processing, the oil itself is toxic.

He emphasised that breathing fumes or swallowing food or liquids contaminated by oil and gas causes reproductive health problems, such as irregular menstrual cycles, miscarriages, stillbirths, and congenital disabilities.

He said: “Refineries release toxic waste into water, soil, and air, which are then ingested by those living close to the refineries through various means.”

“Children living near the factories are more likely to have breathing problems such as asthma and bronchitis. Their reproductive organs may be more impaired, and they may have more abnormal development of the brain and nervous system than their counterparts in less toxic environments.”