- Suspended air particles impact liver People living near oil drilling sites are likely to suffer from liver ailments because of the air pollutants in the area, a study conducted by a group of researchers belonging to the North East Institute of Science and Technology has found. The two-year study, conducted by Tapan Dey, Kabita Gogoi, Balagopalan Unni, Moonmee Bharadwaz, Munmi Kalita, Dibyajyoti Ozah, Manoj Kalita, Jatin Kalita, Pranab Kumar Baruah and Thaneswar Bora near all the oil drilling sites in the state was published in the April 13, 2015 issue of PlosOne. B.G. Unni, now director (research biological sciences), Assam Down Town University, said it was well known that populations living near polluted sites were prone to various types of diseases and that oil spillage has always been a prominent factor causing air pollution around oil drilling sites. "Many epidemiological studies have suggested that environmental pollutants because of oil spillage play a major role in developing various kinds of respiratory problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma," he said. Some recent studies have suggested that oil clean-up workers in marine spills develop respiratory problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, associated with inhalation of sulphur dioxide and other gases over a prolonged period, he added. "This study was conducted with the view to find out how air pollutants like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other suspended particulate matter (SPM) affect the physiology of the liver, as limited information is available in this regard," Unni said. "Prior to the detailed study, we conducted a number of surveys around different polluted sites like oil drilling, coal mines and paper mill areas, where we recorded a large number of the population facing serious health-related problems due to environmental pollutants. During the survey, we observed that most of the population residing near oil drilling sites had a history of anorexia, nausea, progressive weakness and weight loss. The manifestations observed in the exposed group were mainly because of hepatobiliary insufficiency," he said. During the study, 107 subjects were randomly selected, of whom 46 had been residing within 5 square km area of oil-drilling sites since birth while 61 resided about 120km away from such sites. They were all aged above 30 years. The study suggests that high concentration of air pollutants like respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), SPM and nitrogen dioxide lowers the level of the liver enzyme alkaline phosphatase and increases the levels of two enzymes alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase in the exposed group, which affects the liver. "Till now, most of the investigations were done to study the effect of environmental pollutants on lung diseases. In this study, we have evaluated the impact of environmental pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, RSPM and SPM present in air surrounding the oil drilling sites on liver abnormality or injury of the population living near those sites. We found that the presence of air pollutants in the environment does play an important role in liver abnormality or injury to the inhabitant as compared to control groups residing in non-polluted area," he said.