Air Pollution Load Assessment In The Residential Land-Use Types In Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Air pollution continues to be a challenge in the world and the consequences of it are more in developing countries, due to the use of fossil fuels, generators, bad domestic fuel sources and infrequent pollution monitoring. This study investigated the pollutant load across different residential areas in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. A longitudinal research design was deployed for the study. Multi-gas detectors were used to collect pollutant readings at a height of 4 feet above ground level across the study area. The data was collected daily for 12 months from January to December 2023. The stated hypothesis "there is no significant spatial variation in atmospheric pollutants in Asaba", was tested using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The study found that the pollutants increased from the low-density to the high-density areas. There was also a seasonal difference in pollutants amount across the residential areas. The computations of ANOVA models showed that there were statistically significant differences in the means of CO ppm P<0.05 (F=12.3123, sig = 0.00); NO2 P<0.05(F=15.1223, sig=0.03); O3 P<0.05(F=10.1021, sig = 0.05); PM2.5 P<0.05 (F=10.5231, sig = 0.04) and PM10 P<0.05 (F=6.4331 sig = 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in SO2 P>0.05(F=1.3001, sig = 0.10) in the residential areas. Investment in renewable energy and planting of trees and green spaces were among the recommendations of the study.