Environmental Impact of Open Burning of Municipal Solid Wastes Dumps in Parts of Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Refuse dumpsites are found scattered within and outside cities in Nigeria and the open burning of these dumps is a common practice mainly as a waste and odour reduction measure. Open incineration of wastes emits dangerous gases into the atmosphere. The environmental and public health hazards related to open burning of wastes dumps have often been overlooked in most parts of Nigeria and there is limited documentation on this for the study area. This study is aimed at investigating the environmental effect of the burning of open refuse dumps at five locations within Jos Metropolis, Nigeria. Air quality in and around the study area were measured. The results showed that the oxygen levels for all the locations for the different conditions tested ranged between 14.2% and 17.5%. This showed that whether the dumpsites were burning or not the oxygen levels within the vicinity were below the comfortable level of 19.5%. CO levels ranged between 2ppm – 9ppm with the maximum value of 9ppm measured at Apata when the refuse containing some plastics was burning. The values of CO may not be significant but the duration of exposure may make a difference on public healthas most of the dumpsites are located within residential and commercial areas. CO2 values, which ranged between 361ppm to 700ppm, are all higher than standard acceptable levels of 350ppm. The implication is that burning refuse in the open increases the quantity of CO and CO2 in the atmosphere which will likely be of adverse health implication to the residents living close to such areas. It can be concluded that existence and burning of open refuse dumps contributed to the increase in values of air quality parameters measured around the dumpsites. To avert the harmful effects of indiscriminate dumping and burning of solid wastes within residential, commercial and other areas, it is recommended that there should be improvement in solid wastes management in Jos city and environs among other necessary measures.

A Review of Privatization of Waste Management Service in Oman

“…The results of the practice prove that the presence of open dumps contributes to the increase in air pollution measured around landfills. They showed that in the vicinity of the landfill, oxygen levels in the vicinity were below a comfortable level of 19.5% (Daffi et. al., 2020).…”

Hazardous Organic Pollutants from Open Burning of Municipal Wastes in Southwest Nigeria

“…The exact quantity wastes burnt annually in the study area is not known but numerous evidences point to open burning as the predominant means of disposal of solid wastes in Nigeria [7,13,14,18,30,[35][36][37]. According to a study conducted in Benin City by Ezeudu and Ezeudu [38]…”

“…The studies on the extent and compositions of municipal wastes in Nigeria have been reported by several authors [12,14]. A few studies on anthropogenic air pollutants from combustion of municipal solid wastes in Nigeria also exist in the literature [2,15,18]. However, the studies by these authors were limited in scope based on the number of pollutants and study areas covered.…”

A Critical Analysis of Indigenous Systems and Practices of Solid Waste Management in Rural Communities: The Case of Maseru in Lesotho

“…Furthermore, there are incident reports confirming the impacts of waste on the local community. In 2015, in the Qoaling township, a toy from a dumpsite exploded injuring children, and in another incident in Lithabaneng township, medical waste mixed with commercial and industrial waste were found [ 9 ]. The impacts of solid waste management on the health of communities are not well understood and often perceived as an aesthetic problem rather than a public health problem but studies have confirmed public health risks throughout the waste cycle from generation to final disposal [ 10 ].…”