Annals. Food Science and Technology 2016 Available on-line at www.afst.valahia.ro Volume 17, Issue 2, 2016 327 EFFECT OF CRUDE OIL POLLUTION ON FOOD TO THE SAFETY OF PEOPLE OF ILAJE COMMUNITY IN ONDO STATE Adegbola Oladele Dauda*, Olufunmilola Adunni Abiodun, Mutiat Adebanke Balogun and Olaide Akinwunmi Akintayo Department of Home Economics and Food Science, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, E-mail: adegboladauda@yahoo.com Abstract The damaging effect of oil exploration to their host communities is of great concern. As a result of the abundant crude oil in Ilaje community of Ondo State, the safety of the people in the areas led to this research work, where animals were used as a case study. The raw materials used for the research were sourced from the community in order to properly ascertain the effect of oil on their agricultural products. Physical and chemical observation/analyses were carried out on the test rats fed with the test samples produced from the raw materials sourced from the community. Rats fed with the control samples had the highest weight gain of 44.76% while the animals feed with the treated samples had low weight gains, which was 33.73%. The study equally revealed the presence of high concentrations of heavy metals in the tissues such as the liver, kidney, and intestine. Iron, Nickel and lead were significantly higher than the other metals such as zinc, copper, cadmium, manganese and chromium, while arsenic and mercury were very minute in one or two places. The results confirmed or revealed the potential environmental problems prevalent in the area and by extension, other areas where crude oil is being explored. Keywords: Oil Spillage, Human Health, Pollution, Processed Food, Rat organs, Human safety. Submitted: 29.05.2016 Reviewed: 15.07.2016 Accepted: 02.09.2016 1. INTRODUCTION Man’s foods are from both plants (through photosynthesis) and animals (which depends on plants). The process of photosynthesis requires that water is transpired through the root hairs (of the plant) to the leaves where they are stored (in the cells). During transpiration processes, water is absorbed alongside some toxic constituents from chemically polluted soil which are bio- accumulated and built up into complicated substances used as food by man. Nutrients, which are vital to the growth and development/health of man, are consumed in these plants. While consuming these nutrients, man consume along it toxicants which can cause serious damage to the cells, and result in cell lyses and eventual death. Toxic constituents from this crude oil exploration could be referred to as accumulated poison (Clugsten et al., 2001) which sometimes leads to gradual death of liver cells. The oral route is perhaps the most important way through which most toxicants enter the human tissues. When environmental media such as soil, air and water are contaminated with heavy metals, for example, the impacts on the adult man largely depends on the extent to which the metals get into human food items (Onianwa, 2015). Also, it was reported that lead, one of the heavy metals, could be more fatal in children less than five years, and in adults, it is known to cause high blood pressure, muscular and joint pains, decline in mental functioning, memory loss, reduced sperm count, and miscarriages in pregnancy (Onianwa and Fakayode, 2000). Food and environmental interaction could be both positively and negatively (Enujiugba, 2001). Soil, water and organism positively produced food for survival of man, while on the negative side, its benefits to man has been devastated through pollution, which release end product (pollutant) into the air, water and the land. These pollutants lead to destruction of wildlife and biodiversity. It equally affects human health and loss of fertile soil for agricultural purposes. It should be noted that  2016 Valahia University Press Further reproduction without permission is prohibited