This work was done to evaluate the effects of prolonged exposure to gas flares on some haematological parameters on humans. 790 subjects, drawn from two different communities: a gas flared(test group) and non gas flared (control group) communities participated in this study. Blood samples were collected from each subject and analyzed for red blood cell(RBC), white blood cell(WBC), haemoglobin concentration (HGB ), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin(MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration(MCHC), platelet(PLT) count, total protein(TP) and albumin(ALB). The results showed statistically significant decrease in HGB, RBC, MCV,MCH,MCHC, PLT, TP and ALB in the test group when compared with control (p< 0.05) However, significant increase was observed in WBC count in the test group, compared with the control group(p<0.05). The observed effects in all parameters studied were more marked in females than the males. In conclusion, prolonged exposure to gas flares can cause marked decrease in some blood indices in humans.
