The Niger Delta is one of the largest oil producing regions of the world. Large numbers and volumes of oil spills have been reported in this region. What has not been quantified is the putative exposure of humans and/or the environment to this hydrocarbon pollution. In this novel study, advanced geostatistical techniques were applied to an extensive database of oil spill incidents from 2007 to 2015. The aims were to (i) identify and analyse spill hotspots along the oil pipeline network and (ii) estimate the exposure of the hydrocarbon pollution to the human population and the environment within the Niger Delta. Over the study period almost 90 million litres of oil were released. Approximately 29% of the human population living in proximity to the pipeline network has been potentially exposed to oil contamination, of which 565,000 people live within high or very high spill intensity sectors. Over 1000 km² of land has been contaminated by oil pollution, with broadleaved forest, mangroves and agricultural land the most heavily impacted land cover types. Proximity to the coast, roads and cities are the strongest spatial factors contributing to spill occurrence, which largely determine the accessibility of sites for pipeline sabotage and oil theft. Overall, the findings demonstrate the high levels of environmental and human exposure to hydrocarbon pollutants in the Niger Delta. These results provide evidence with which to spatially target interventions to reduce future spill incidents and mitigate the impacts of previous spills on human communities and ecosystem health.

尼日尔三角洲是世界上最大的石油产区之一。据报道该地区发生了大量和大量的漏油事件。尚未量化的是假定的人类和/或环境暴露于这种碳氢化合物污染。在这项新颖的研究中，将先进的地统计学技术应用于2007年至2015年的大量溢油事故数据库。其目的是（i）识别和分析沿输油管网的溢油热点，以及（ii）估算碳氢化合物的暴露量尼日尔三角洲地区对人类和环境的污染。在研究期间，将近9000 万 升的油被释放了。靠近管道网络的人口中约有29％可能受到石油污染，其中565,000人口生活在高或极高泄漏强度地区。超过1000 公里²的土地已受到石油污染的污染，其中阔叶林，红树林和农业用地受到的土地覆盖类型影响最大。靠近海岸，道路和城市是造成溢油事故的最强空间因素，这些因素在很大程度上决定了管道破坏和盗油地点的可及性。总体而言，研究结果表明，尼日尔三角洲的环境和人类暴露于碳氢化合物污染物的程度很高。这些结果提供了在空间上针对干预措施以减少未来溢漏事件并减轻先前溢漏对人类社区和生态系统健康的影响的证据。