Prof. Babajide Alloy, a Consultant to the
Federal Ministry of Environment, made the disclosure on Tuesday in an interview
with newsmen on the sidelines of a workshop in Calabar.
NAN reports that according to Alloy, the
consumption of food prepared from the chemical substance will expose the public
to cancers of the lungs, heart, kidney and liver diseases.
“For a long time, PCBs was the cooling
liquid used in electricity transformers, until the world found out that this
oil was toxic, and is trying to phase it out
“Jail term awaits those caught using PCBs
to fry Akara, chicken and plantain chips at roadside to sell to the public
because the oil is toxic and carcinogenic.
“We found out that it is all over the place
in Nigeria, dump sites, and in old National Electric Power Authority (NEPA)
compounds,” he said.
Alloy said a survey carried out by the
ministry revealed that the oil was currently being used in making food like
Akara.
The consultant added that the unsuspecting
public were being deceived by the likeness of the oil to the commonly used
groundnut oil.
“Some food vendors now mix PCBs with
groundnut oil to fry Akara and sell to the general public.
“Of course, they may not know how hazardous
what they are doing is. This exercise is to sensitise policymakers and everyone
of this malaise.
“It is important to note that spillage of
PCBs is always a danger when equipment is to be transported; it should,
therefore, be transported only in sealed containers,” he said.
The workshop was organised for state
councils, regulatory bodies, power operators and customs officers on
application of PCBs regulations and guidelines for Environmentally Sound
Management (ESM) of PCBs.