EVALUATING THE CONTRIBUTION OF MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS TO AIR POLLUTION IN WARRI METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

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.