title: Environmental and health impacts of effluents from textile industries in Ethiopia: the case of Gelan and Dukem, Oromia Regional State.
abstract: This study focuses on four textile industries (DH-GEDA, NOYA, ALMHADI, and ALSAR) established between 2005 and 2008 in the peri-urban areas of Dukem and Gelan. The objectives of the study were to generate baseline information regarding the concentration levels of selected pollutants and to analyze their effects on biophysical environments. This study also attempts to explore the level of exposure that humans and livestock have to polluted effluents and the effects thereof. The findings of this study are based on data empirically collected from two sources: laboratory analysis of sample effluents from the four selected textile plants and quantitative as well as qualitative socioeconomic data collection. As part of the latter, a household survey and focus group discussions (FGDs) with elderly and other focal persons were employed in the towns of Dukem and Gelan. The results of the study show that large concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and pH were found in all the observed textile industries, at levels beyond the permissible discharge limit set by the national Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Furthermore, sulfide (S2), R-phosphate (R-PO43), and Zn were found in large concentrations in DH-GEDA and ALMHADI, while high concentrations were also identified in samples taken from ALSAR and ALMHADI. In spite of the clear-cut legal tools, this study shows that the local environment, people, and their livestock are exposed to highly contaminated effluents. We therefore recommend that the respective federal and regional government bodies should reexamine the compliance to and actual implementation of the existing legal procedures and regulations and respond appropriately.
authors.affiliation: College of Social Science and Humanities, Department of Geography, Madda Walabu University, Bale Robe, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Diriba
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dadi
authors.affiliation: Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Till
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stellmacher
authors.affiliation: College of Development Studies (CDS), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Feyera
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Senbeta
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.|Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Passel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium. hossein.azadi@ugent.be.|Economics and Rural Development, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. hossein.azadi@ugent.be.|Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. hossein.azadi@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Azadi
mesh_terms: D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005002:Ethiopia; D006801:Humans; D013783:Textile Industry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental quality; Human health; Pollution assessment; Textile effluent; Water pollution