The human race seems to be suddenly concerned about its future. The earth shrieks in deep agony because of the accumulated injuries inflicted on her by her children. So much so that it is seen to be political correct to speak about things like green house effect, global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer. The highpoint of this global agenda was the Nobel Prize recently awarded to Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States for his acclaimed ‘contributions’ to this cause.

However, we have not heard so much from scientists in this country? Is it that there are no researches being carried out by Nigerians or that as some people claim, that the concern for the environment is a new ploy to divert attention from more serious issues in the public domain?

What then would unite scientists from Lagos, Alaska, Australia, Iran, Denmark, Rome, Canada, Egypt and Taiwan? In Environmental Impact of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons, about thirty chemists in the aforementioned countries, lead by Nigerian’s Dr Chimezie Anyakora, distilled the impact of PAH on mother earth.

What the hell is PAH? Trying to describe this to mere mortals like myself is to say the least daunting. However, chemists say that PAHs “are a class of diverse organic compounds containing two or more fused aromatic rings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. They are probably the most structurally diverse class of organic compounds.” Though about hundred of PAHs are known, only sixteen were prioritised in the book due to their physicochemical importance.

PAH’s as carcinogenic compounds caught the attention of many regulatory agencies that have pushed for more severe legislatures on them several years ago. There is already abundant literature on the subject. What does Environmental Impact of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons intend to achieve? Dr Anyakora, a pharmaceutical chemist in the University of Lagos, anticipating this question, replies thus: “in these papers, the angle of focus varies. Some focused on the impact of the environment in general, some on carcinogenesis, carcinogenicity and toxicity of these compounds.”

Besides, the book intends to deepen the understanding and appreciation of the nature/importance of PAHs. The authors also wish to advance the frontiers of knowledge – an aspect that seems to be lacking in our universities. It seems that these days all that most of our academics aim for is to publish and be endowed with a professorial chair. As soon as they become professors, that’s the end of their research. I recall a professor of computer science in one of the universities, telling his class in 2007 that investigation is in top gear to develop computers that have 80GB HDD!

Environmental Impact of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons is made of fourteen different chapters. They include: Chemistry of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Toxicity, gentocity and carcinocity of PAHs; Toxicokinetics of PAHs; Biomarkers of PAHs exposure; Impact of PAHs on marine organisms in polluted sites; Embryotoxicity of PAHs; Application of PAHs in Chemical Fingerprinting; Sample Preparation; Analysis of PAHs with HPLC; Analysis of PAHs with GC and Analysis of PAHs with MECC. The book in the words of its editor is “certainly not exhaustive but all chapters were written with sufficient relevant and recent references to help both advanced and intermediate audience get deeper insight on the subject.”

I must congratulate Anyakora et al, for a great pedagogical attainment. It shows that despite the degradation that has enveloped the Nigerian Science niche, the apathy of government towards funding of researches, the individual scientist has not given up. There is no doubt that this book is for a specialised class. Having read it, I can only envy students who will have the good fortune to be taught by these chemists themselves. And to have one of them in Unilag, is indeed comforting.