A Review of the Environmental and Health Implications of Plastic Wastes Pollution in Nigeria

We are in the age of plastic, and it has become an issue of concern in the environment. The aim of this paper is to review the environmental and health implications of plastic waste pollution, its sources, mitigative measures and challenges that impede its effective mitigation. From the review, we discovered that plastic is everywhere due to its versatility and cost efficiency, in the environment it affects every area; the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the biosphere, the soil gets polluted by it, hindering the growth of plant, underground water also gets polluted by it, the aquatic animals are threaten by it, as it destroys coral reefs and causes death in aquatic organisms, there is also emission of gases during its production and decomposition, yielding green house gases that leads to global warming, some of the chemicals used in its production causes headache, cancer, skin damage and affect the central nervous system, mitigative measures such as eco-labeling, extensive research, awareness and community involvement as well as plastic ban has been recommended, the challenges of effective mitigation as seen are; lack of technical skills, lack of data and most of the methods for waste management are expensive and unsustainable. This paper concludes that there is need harness other alternatives to plastic; restructuring of the mind is a tool that would help in mitigating plastic waste pollution. This essay aims to find gaps in literature in order to research further.