Abstract
The proliferation of industrial activities globally has led to the increase in the concentration of hazardous pollutants in the atmosphere. We thus hypothesized that Port Harcourt, an industrialized city, and the host to a foremost refinery in Africa, would have a high concentration of pollutants in indoor and outdoor environments. We took air samples with a gas monitor (Aero qual series 500) from indoor and outdoor environments in 40 residential areas. The sampling sites were georeferenced with Garmin GPS and geospatially analyzed using ArcGIS. Predictive models were used to determine the concentration of Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and Carbon monoxide (CO). Our results reveal that SO2, NO2, and CO concentrations were high in the high-density areas compared to the low-density regions. In most areas, the concentration is higher than the FMEnv and NAAQS permissible limits in both the dry and wet seasons. Diobu, a highly populated has the highest pollution level. For example, the concentration of CO in this location was >15 ppm during the wet season. The study revealed that a high influx of vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor cooking with stoves and firewood, use of fossil fuel generators, and tobacco smoking are some factors that led to a high concentration of gases in the residential areas. We thus recommend that old vehicles should be banned; also the use of firewood should be discouraged to reduce pollution. There should also be regular monitoring of the indoor and outdoor air quality.
Highlights
Life has significantly increased in abundance, complexity, and diversity over the earth’s history but has continuously altered the earth’s environment, posing a severe threat to earth’s inhabitants (Kleidon, 2010)
We hypothesized that Port Harcourt, an industrialized city, and the host to a foremost refinery in Africa, would have a high concentration of pollutants in indoor and outdoor environments
Our results reveal that SO2, NO2, and Carbon Monoxide (CO) concentrations were high in the high-density areas compared to the low-density regions
Summary
Life has significantly increased in abundance, complexity, and diversity over the earth’s history but has continuously altered the earth’s environment, posing a severe threat to earth’s inhabitants (Kleidon, 2010). According to Shikazono (2012), the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere make up the earth’s system. While the atmosphere itself is composed of the following molecules: nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (1%), and trace amounts of carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, krypton, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, xenon, ozone, iodine, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and quantities of water vapour at lower altitudes (Hu et al, 2022; Saha, 2008). According to Chernyaeva and Wang (2019), air pollution is generally referred to as the introduction of chemical, biological and physical substances into the air, thereby altering the air’s natural concentration. Harmful gases cause air pollution, and so impact the atmospheric equilibrium. Some activities that cause this situation are burning coal, oil, and natural gas
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