Highlights• Pioneer outdoor air pollution time-series data for a Nigerian city • Validates MSA Altair 5× gas detector and CW-HAT200 particulate counter.• Alarming outdoor pollution measurements • A candidate into the list of World's most polluted cities is revealed.
AbstractAir pollution is an unnoticed problem in many Nigerian urban cities. This is mainly attributed to the usage of power generating sets, indiscriminate refuse burning, biomass consumption and import/recycle of timeworn automobiles, which dominates the Nigerian automobile fleet. Reduced economic infrastructure and the Nigerian climate, are a major factor for the dense outdoor population activities. This is contributing to the increasing population health risk resulting from pollution exposure. Literature on the seasonal spatial-temporal distribution of air pollutants within Nigerian urban cities is presently scanty. This study evaluates the local and global implications of air pollution trends in northern Nigeria's educational hub. The study utilized validated costeffective devices (MSA Altair 5x gas detector and the CW-HAT200 particulate counter) to assess the outdoor air quality in Zaria. The findings revealed the one-year day-time weighted average concentration level for CO, SO2 PM2.5 and PM10 as 29.22 ppm, 0.32 ppm, 219.73 and 451.96 µgm -3 respectively. These concentration levels were above the locally and globally stipulated air quality indices. In particular, the concentration levels of the particulate matter pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10) were high enough to place Zaria amongst the World Health Organization's list of polluted cities. We are optimistic that our findings would instigate Nigerian policy makers to take decisive steps for air quality management across its cities.
Zaria is the educational hub of northern Nigeria. It is a developing city with a pollution level high enough to be ranked amongst the World Health Organization's (WHO) most polluted cities. The study appraised the influence of outdoor air pollution on the respiratory well-being of a population in a limited resource environment. With the approved ethics, the techniques utilized were: portable pollutant monitors, respiratory health records, WHO AirQ+ software, and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) questionnaire. They were utilized to acquire daytime weighted outdoor pollution levels, health respiratory cases, assumed baseline incidence (BI), and exposure respiratory symptoms among selected study participants respectively. The study revealed an average respiratory illness incidence rate of 607 per 100,000 cases. Findings showed that an average of 2648 cases could have been avoided if the theoretical WHO threshold limit for the particulate matter with diameter of <2.5/10 micron (PM 2.5 /PM 10) were adhered to. Using the questionnaire survey, phlegm was identified as the predominant respiratory symptom. A regression analysis showed that the criteria pollutant PM 2.5 , was the most predominant cause of respiratory symptoms among interviewed respondents. The study logistics revealed that outdoor pollution is significantly associated with respiratory well-being of the study population in Zaria, Nigeria.
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