Contributions of some criteria air pollutants by petroleum product retailing stations to Nigeria airshed

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This study was carried out on the petroleum product retailing stations to infer the contribution of criteria air pollutants to the host airshed. ToxiRAE II SO2 and NO2 detectors (model PGM-1130) were used to measure the concentrations of the gases respectively within four major petroleum products retailing filling stations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria for 10 h each day between the hour of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm with intervals of 30 min for a week per station. Generally, the mean concentrations of SO2 were comparatively higher than those of NO2 in the retailing stations. A comparison of the mean values of SO2 and NO2 with their USEPA standard permissible limits indicated that the measured air pollutants were present at elevated levels. The SO2/NO2 results suggested that the effect of vehicular emissions is about the same as that of industrial pollution on the ambient air quality. Air quality index results suggested that air pollution posed little or no risk, but there is a need for a cautionary statement. It is concluded that strong regulatory structures are needed to lessen the hazardous effects that could arise from the increase in the level of the pollutants in the ambient air. It is recommended that governments should encourage energy producers to clean smoke stacks by using scrubbers which trap pollutants before they are released into the atmosphere and catalytic converters in vehicles to reduce their emissions and that petroleum products retailing stations should be located far away from residential areas.