initialising env var using sqlplus

         IN_DIR
         UL_DIR
         DL_DIR'

for EACH_DIR in $OUT_DIR; do
      $EACH_DIR=`echo "set feedback off
                       set heading off
                       select $EACH_DIR
                       from direcotories
                       where hostname='MY_HOST';" | sqlplus -s /`

export $OUT_DIR

Has anyone done anything like this before ? Somehow the above piece of code looks logical but it doesn't seem to work. Would appreciate any advice greatly ...