Air of Uncertainty from Pollution Profiteers: Status of Ambient Air Quality of Sawmill Industry in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Olalekan Morufu Raimi, Timothy Kayode Samson, Ajayi Bankole Sunday, Adio Zulkarnaini Olalekan, Odipe Oluwaseun Emmanuel, Ogunleye Temitope Jide (2021) Air of Uncertainty from Pollution Profiteers: Status of Ambient Air Quality of Sawmill Industry in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria. Research

22 Pages Posted: 31 Aug 2021

See all articles by Morufu Olalekan Raimi

Morufu Olalekan Raimi

Federal University Otuoke; Niger Delta University (NDU) - Department of Community Medicine

Timothy Kayode Samson

Statistics Programme, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria

Bankole Sunday Ajayi

Kwara State University

Zulkanaini Adio

Kwara State University

Odipe Oluwaseun Emmanuel

Kwara State University - Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Temitope Jide Ogunleye

Kwara State University

Date Written: July 27, 2021

Abstract

We can’t stop breathing, but we can do something about the quality of air that we breathe. Clean fresh air is indispensable ingredient for a good life quality. Individuals poses the right towards expecting that the breathed air will not harm people. Thus, fighting air pollution will not only improve health outcomes, productivity, and well-being, it’s also essential toward reducing the emissions of greenhouse gas as well as fighting climate change. For examples, a third of the global population is at risk from unhealthy of ambient air pollutants concentrations, with the loss of approximately 6.4 million healthy-life-years attributed specifically to chronic exposure to ambient particulate matter. Expert panels have consistently rated air pollution as a greater health hazard than water pollution. Pollution of air is the leading source of unexplained and undiagnosed dis-eases, besides have remained associated with a variety of serious human health risks, and in fact, a threshold has not been established under which these pollutants exert no adverse effects. This study evaluates ambient air quality at major sawmill sites in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria. “Measurements of Air pollution were accurately carried out using direct reading, automatic in situ gas monitors; Hand held mobile multi-gas monitor with model AS8900 [Combustible (LEL), and Oxygen (O2)], BLATN with model BR – Smart Series air quality monitor (PM10, Formaldehyde) and air quality multimeter with model B SIDE EET100 (Dust (PM2.5), VOC, Temperature and Relative Humidity)”. The outcomes disclosed among others, the average concentrations of CO, O2 as well as other measured parameters for instance formaldehyde (HcHo) etc., they are also consistently low as well as within acceptable range in terms of National as well as Global monitoring standards for air quality indices. However, there are few exceptions for instance the average volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations, PM2.5, PM10 as well as Combustible (LEL) respectively, which are higher when compared to National and Global standards. This high figure is due to pollutant amount existing in the sawmills air environment resulting from input of influents from activities of the sawmill. However, as a result, air pollution in the city of Ilorin is found to be increasingly polluted and are of major health concern because of their synergistic action. Due to the high ev-idences and values, it can lead to a remarkable rise in over-all figure of hospital visits/ patients’ admissions with acute respiratory illnesses as soon as air pollutants level remained high. Hence, there is the need for an aggressive control of ambient air pollution.

Keywords: Pollution profiteers, Regulatory decisions, SARS-CoV-2 infection, Polluters paradise, Heightened mortality risk, Hazardous air pollutants, Cancer alley, Sawmills, Nigeria

JEL Classification: scol

Suggested Citation

Raimi, Morufu Olalekan and Samson, Timothy Kayode and Ajayi, Bankole Sunday and Adio, Zulkanaini and Emmanuel, Odipe Oluwaseun and Ogunleye, Temitope Jide, Air of Uncertainty from Pollution Profiteers: Status of Ambient Air Quality of Sawmill Industry in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria (July 27, 2021). Olalekan Morufu Raimi, Timothy Kayode Samson, Ajayi Bankole Sunday, Adio Zulkarnaini Olalekan, Odipe Oluwaseun Emmanuel, Ogunleye Temitope Jide (2021) Air of Uncertainty from Pollution Profiteers: Status of Ambient Air Quality of Sawmill Industry in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria. Research , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3894626

Morufu Olalekan Raimi (Contact Author)

Federal University Otuoke ( email )

Department of Environmental Management and
Toxicology
Bayelsa
Nigeria

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.growkudos.com/profile/morufu_raimi

Niger Delta University (NDU) - Department of Community Medicine ( email )

Nigeria
07038053786 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Morufu_Raimi

Timothy Kayode Samson

Statistics Programme, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria ( email )

Iwo
Nigeria

Bankole Sunday Ajayi

Kwara State University ( email )

Malete
Kwara State
Nigeria

Zulkanaini Adio

Kwara State University ( email )

Kwara State University Rd
Malete
Nigeria

Odipe Oluwaseun Emmanuel

Kwara State University - Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Nigeria

Temitope Jide Ogunleye

Kwara State University ( email )

Malete
Kwara State
Nigeria

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
138
Abstract Views
685
Rank
415,466
PlumX Metrics