Abstract:
This study was aimed at estimating the contribution of motor vehicle emissions along some busy
roads in Warri metropolis(Warri-Sapele road, Okere road, Okumagba Avenue, Airport road and
Ogbe-Ijoh market). The Crowcon Tetra III lite was used to measure the concentrations of air
pollutants such as CO, NO2and SO2. Also, vehicle count was conducted automatically and
manually to determine the vehicle volumes at the sampling points. The results indicated that the
concentrations of CO, NO2 and SO2measured, ranged from29.1-37.0ppm, 0.03-0.05 ppm and
0.0037-0.051 ppm respectively, this results indicate that CO is more predominant and highest in
Okumagba Avenue. With few exceptions at some sampling points,the obtained results from the
data measurementswere all above the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory
Enforcement Agency (NESREA) recommended safe limits of 20 ppm for CO, especially during
the late afternoon-evening periods. It was also confirmed that the level of pollutants across all the
sampling points increases with traffic volume. The study therefore established strong statistical
evidence that traffic volume affects the pollutants concentrations at all sampling points. This
implies that motor vehicle emissions in Warri metropolis is not within the safe limits, and that
motor traffic-related pollution in Warri metropolis is a potential hazard to the environment and
human health. It was recommended that, for the benefit of public health and sustainability of the
natural functioning of ecosystems, motorization growth should be speedily checked by
environmental regulatory bodies. The construction of inner roads and bridges that would link
Warri North and South would be valuable, as this would help to reduce the number of vehicles on
major roads, which in turn would help reduce the concentration of pollutants if there are no serious
traffic holdups in a particular area at every point in time.
