The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency has urged ‘ponmo’ lovers in the state to consider reducing their consumption to keep the air quality of the state clean and healthy.

Speaking exclusively with our correspondent on Friday, the General Manager of the environmental agency, Babatunde Ajayi. disclosed that burning of cow skin in different areas of the state releases carbon emissions into the air which are very harmful to humans.

Ponmo is made by burning cow skin. This involves burning the cow skin for an extended time on fire before it reaches the perfect texture. Thereafter, the roasted skin is washed several times and boiled for several hours to soften it.

According tocleanairfunf.org, air pollution caused by traffic and congestion, biomass fuel burning and shipping are major threats to sustainable growth in Lagos.

Speaking against the backdrop of the data on air quality that the state agency released, which showed that the air quality was below healthy, Ajayi, said agricultural emission contributes to poor air quality.

The data by LASEPA across the 22 areas measured found that the air quality in those areas ranged from moderate to unhealthy with Agege, Akoka, Ojo, and Ketu topping the list of areas with the most unhealthy air quality.

Revealing how agriculture causes massive carbon emissions in the state, he said, “Some areas are purely agricultural. This includes animal farming particularly the processing of hides and skin. (The PUNCH)