J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No.

1, pp 7-14 [2018]

AIR QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF EMERGING INDUSTRIAL

AREAS IN PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA
Akinfolarin, O.M., Obunwo, C.C. and Boisa, N.
Department of Chemistry, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Corresponding email: oladapo.akinfolarin@ust.edu.ng

Received 22 September 2017; accepted 23 December 2017, published online 26 January 2018

Abstract
Recent observation of emission of soot in Port Harcourt has necessitated the determination of air
quality characteristics of three emerging industrial areas, Rumuolumeni, Eleme and Oginigba in the
metropolis. A rural area, Omuanwa, distant from the study areas, served as control. Air quality
parameters were measured using portable digital hand held air monitors. The study covered wet and
dry season periods. The results showed that relative humidity levels in the wet season (65.28±2.53% -
69.85±2.23%) were higher than in the dry season (46.37±2.76% - 54.78±12.72%). The mean
concentrations of the particulates matters (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, PM10 and TSP) obtained for dry season
in all the sampling sites were higher than those of the wet season. Also, the observed trend in levels of
TSP in either season was Rumuolumeni > Oginigba > Eleme. Mean temperature values of ambient
air for Eleme, Oginigba, Rumuolumeni were 31.47±0.49OC, 30.52±0.60oC and 30.03±0.70oC for
wet season and 33.38±0.55oC, 30.07±0.94oC and 29.20±1.53oC for dry respectively. Gases such as
NO, NO2, SO2, CO, VOCs and NH3 were below detection limits at the study area indicating that the
emerging industrial areas might not be responsible for the emissions of soot in Port Harcourt.
However, the high levels of TSP (exceeding standard limits) might pose serious threat to environment
and health of the inhabitants of Port Harcourt metropolis.
Keywords: Air quality characteristic, air pollutants, emerging industrial areas, Port Harcourt.

Introduction Nigerians were exposed to air pollution levels

Contamination of air arising from
anthropogenic inputs has been a global
concern as a result of the health effects
associated with it. High levels of gases (such
as SO2, NO2, CO, and hydrocarbons) and
particulates tend to pollute the atmosphere as
they cause harmful effects to environment and
human health [1,2]. Consequently, air
pollution evolves as a major environmental
concern in modern day if there are no
effective control measures.
United Nations records on the impact of air
pollution in Africa have been scary [3]. In
2015, the World Bank reported 94 percent of
that exceeded World Health Organization
(WHO) guidelines [4]. Furthermore, it was
believed that polluted air killed more people
worldwide than AIDS, malaria, breast cancer,
or tuberculosis [5]. Also, the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated
that some 600,000 people would die in Africa
every year as a result of air pollution [6].
Comparing the large volume and varieties of
assessments carried out in the developed
countries, exposure studies in Nigeria are
relatively scarce [7]. This may be due to lack
of adequate air-monitoring equipment to
determine air quality on a day to day basis;

1
 J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 7-14 [2018]
lack of requisite staff to monitor the impacts
of companies operating and/or lack of
adequate environmental impact assessment
(EIA) properly vetted and approved by
regulatory bodies.
One of the major environmental problems
facing the Niger Delta Area (NDA) is air
pollution. [8-16]. Recent, news concerning
the emission of soot broke out in the city of
Port Harcourt, south-south region of Nigeria.
There has been complaints by the inhabitants
of waking up to see black particles settled on
their cars, black dirt in the nostrils when
cleaned up with handkerchief, clothes got
stained, difficult breathing, wheezing and
sneezing. The soot problem is suggested that
some to be due to incomplete combustion of
fossil fuels, bio-mass, burning of tires and the
illegal artisanal refinery operations. It has
been found to pose serious threat to human
health agriculture and climate [17,18].
It was also suggested that some emerging
industrial areas could be responsible for the
indiscriminate emissions of the obnoxious
gases. This consideration necessitated the
authors assessment of the air quality status of
three emerging industrial sites in Port
Harcourt metropolis.
Materials and Methods
Study Area: The study was carried out in Port
Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, the
hub of oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Port
Harcourt is located between latitudes 4 0 49/
27// N and longitudes 70 2/ 1// E. It lies along
the Bonny River and is located in the Niger
Delta of the southern Nigeria. The metropolis
stretches from Borokiri Peninsula to the
International airport at Omagwa. The other
span of the metropolis stretches from the
Refinery at Eleme to the University of Port
Harcourt at Choba Community. The entire
Port Harcourt metropolis is an area between
1300 and 1800km2 with a population of over
six million. [18].
Port Harcourt features a tropical wet climate
with lengthy and heavy rainy season and very
short dry season. The mean monthly rainfall
ranges between 20.7 and 434.0mm, with an
2
annual level in excess of 3000mm. Though it
rains throughout the year, November to
January is its lowest rainfall period.
December, on average, is the driest month of
the year. Rainfall gradually increases from
February to June when it experiences the first
peak which is followed by the second peak in
September. Temperature throughout the year
in the city is relatively constant showing little
variation throughout the course of a year.
Average temperatures are typically between
25- 280C [19, 20].
Description of sampling areas and points:
The sampling areas were selected to cover
Port Harcourt metropolis and its environs.
The following areas were sampled: Emerging
industrial areas, namely, Rumuolumeni
(within Port Harcourt), Oginigba (along
Trans-Amadi layout), Eleme (an outskirt of
Port Harcourt) and a non industrial area,
Omuanwa (in Ikwere LGA as control).
Activities around these areas were
commercial and construction works at
Rumuolumeni, commercial and cement block
molding at Ogingba, Industrial and sand
dredging at Eleme, while farming was
predominant at Omuanwa. Figure 1 shows
the map of Port Harcourt and the sampling
areas.
Sampling: Eleven points were sampled: 3
points each from Rumuolumeni, Oginigba,
and Eleme (industrial areas) and two points at
Omuanwa (non industrial area) which serves
as control, all coordinates listed in Table 1.
Analysis of ambient air and air pollutants
measurement methods were those approved
by American Standard for Testing and
Material (ASTM, 2011) [18] for specific
parameters. Potential air contaminants
measured in the study area included
suspended particulate matter - SPM (PM1,
PM2.5, PM7, PM10, TSP); gaseous emissions
such as sulphur (IV) dioxide (S02), nitrogen
(IV) oxide (NO2), carbon (II) oxide (CO),
methane (CH4), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), ammonia
(NH3); meteorological parameters like
ambient temperature, wind speed, wind
direction, relative
 J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 7-14 [2018]
Omuanwa
Rumuolumeni
Oginigba
Figure 1: Map of the study area showing sampling locations
humidity, heat radiation and atmospheric
pressure. All equipment and meters were pre-
calibrated before each usage for quality
assurance purposes. The pieces of sampling
equipment used were portable digital hand
held air monitors. These monitors include:
Scientific Drager X-am 5000 Multi-gas
monitor for O2, CO, SO2, NH3, NO2, CH4,
VOC, H2S; Aerocet 531 monitor for SPM;
Kestrel 4200 for temperature, wind velocity,
wind direction, relative humidity,
atmospheric pressure; Pyrometer for heat
radiation and Digital noise meter for noise
level. Sampling points coordinates were
obtained with hand-held automated GPS
(Table 1).
Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis was
carried out using IBM SPSS 20.
Results and Discussion
The results of meteorological data, gaseous
emissions and particulate matters are
presented in Tables 2 – 4.
Relative humidity: The field relative humidity
3
KEY
Study areas
Eleme
values were in order Rumuolumeni >
Oginigba > Eleme for both seasons. The
results showed that relative humidity levels in
the wet season with mean values of
65.28±2.53% at Eleme, 66.25±1.47% at
Oginigba and 69.85±2.23% at Rumuolumeni
were higher than those obtained in the dry
season with mean values of 46.37±2.76%,
47.77±2.07% and 54.78±12.72% for Eleme,
Ogonigba and Rumuolumeni respectively
(Table 2). Gobo et al., 2012 reported similar
result in the wet season ranging from 62.5% to
70.1%, while dry season ranged from 41.8% to
59.9% [22]. High relative humidity has an
effect of subsiding particulates and dissolving
gaseous emissions. However, there was no
significant difference between the means of
dry and wet seasons at Rumuolumeni (p
>0.05). There were significant differences
between the means at Oginigba and Eleme (p
<0.05). This difference could be due to the
proximity and direction of wind blow from
Oginigba and Eleme streams to the points of
sampling. Also humidity level is higher in
 J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 7-14 [2018]

wet than in dry season [22].
Air temperature: The trend showed that
Eleme >Oginigba > Rumuolumeni for both
seasons with mean temperature of
31.47±0.49oC, 30.52±0.60oC and
30.03±0.70oC; 33.38±0.55oC, 30.07±0.94oC
and 29.20±1.53oC wet and dry periods
respectively (Table 2). This observable
expected trend is in contrast to relative
humidity and corresponds to heat generated
within the monitoring location that imparts
to the receiving environment. Ali and Athar,
2008 reported temperature range of 17 –
22oC following a study on air quality
monitoring along three sections of national
highway, Pakistan [27]. Literature has is that
temperature has a positive correlation to the
concentration of particulate matters but a
negative correlation to relative humidity [28]
Wind Pattern: During the Air quality
monitoring, the wind pattern was characterized
by small diurnal variation influenced by land
breezes resulting from the activities of the area
such as dredging of sand, vehicular movement
and moulding of block. The wind speed was
< 1.5m/s for both wet and dry seasons in all
sampling sites (Table 2). Reduced wind speed
can imply poor ventilation of pollutants from
these areas leading to increased exposure to
pollutants which can be problematic from
human health point of view [29].
Air quality gaseous emission: Of all the air
quality parameters including NO, O2, NO2,
SO2, CO, NH3, H2S and VOCs measured
during the study, only oxygen (O2) was
detected. It was measured to be 20.90ppm
(Table 3) at the monitored locations. Similar
results was reported by Ewona et al., 2013
following a study on ‘Air quality and
Environmental Health in Calabar, Cross River
State, Nigeria’. The gaseous substances (NO 2,
NO, SO2, H2S, CO, CO2, VOC, NH3 and
CH4) were zero while some were < 0.1ppm
for both dry and wet season [13]. Also, Ede et
al., 2010 did a study on air quality around
local palm oil mills plants in Niger Delta and
reported that VOCs, NOx, SOx and CO were
below detection limits in some sampling sites
[10]. Though, NO, O2, NO2, SO2, CO are
combustion products thus being expected in
the area of high operational activities such as
automobile exhaust, fumes from grinding
activities and dredging work. Their non-
detection in any of the sampling points could
be an indication that emerging industrial areas
might not be responsible for the emissions of
soot in Port Harcourt. Also, low operational
practice and better maintenance of the
identified combustion sources are maintained.

Table 1: Geographical co-ordinates of sampling stations

Station Name Geographical coordinates
1 Rumuolumeni N 04o 48/ 49.3//E 006o 57/ 52.9//
2 N 04o 43/ 54.9//E 006o 57/ 48.2//
3 N 04o 49/ 02.6//E 006o 57/ 45.5//
4 Oginigba N 04o 50/ 13.2//E 007o 02/ 06.4//
5 N 04o 50/ 27.4//E 007o 01/ 50.5//
6 N 04o 50/ 39.7// E 007o 01/ 43.1//
7 Eleme N 04o 48/ 24.5//E 007o 05/ 58.7//
8 N 04o 43/ 28.4//E 007o 06/ 02.2//
9 N 04o 48/ 30.4//E 007o 06/ 06.8//
10 Omuanwa N 05o 01/ 15.0//E 006o 52/ 12.8//
11 N 05o 01/ 09.3//E 006o 52/ 19.1//

Table 2: Mean seasonal measurement of meteorological parameters

Wet Dry
Temperature Relative Wind Temperature Relative Wind
(oC) speed (oC) Humidity (%) speed
Humidity (m/s) (m/s)
(%)
Rumuolumeni 30.03±0.70 69.85±2.23 1.03±0.35 29.20±1.53 54.78±12.72 0.60±0.10

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 J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 7-14 [2018]

Oginigba 30.52±0.60 66.25±1.47 1.07±0.06 30.07±0.94 47.77±2.07 1.00±0.05

Eleme 31.47±0.49 65.28±2.53 0.92±0.25 33.38±0.55 46.37±2.76 0.73±0.18

Omuanwa 29.23±0.61 70.23±0.50 1.08±0.13 34.75±0.64 42.93±0.81 0.85±0.14

Table 3: Field Measured 1-Hour Air Quality Parameters

Sampling Concentration in ppm
Stations NH3 CO SO2 NO2 VOC H2S O2 CH4
Rumuolumeni BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL 20.90 BDL
Oginigba BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL 20.90 BDL
Eleme BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL 20.90 BDL
Omuanwa BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL 20.90 BDL
DPR Limit - 10.0 100-150 150 - - -
FME Limit - 11-22.8 26-260 75-113 160 - -
*BDL Below detection limit (0.001)

Particulates: As reported in Table 4, the mean
levels of all the PMs and TSP were least in
Omuanwa being the control except for TSP,
dry season were high above FME limit (Table
4). The concentrations at Omuanwa when
compared with the three emerging industrial
sites of Rumuolumeni, Oginigba and Eleme
were much lower at both dry and wet seasons.
The low levels reported may be due to little or
no industrial activities while the high level
observed may be due to exhaust of polluting
diesel vehicles or forest fires. Fine particulates,
solid or liquid, 1 ˗ 2.5µm or less in size (PM1,
PM2.5) were higher in dry season than those of
wet season. Similarly, coarse particulates of >
2.5µm ≤ 10µm in size (PM10) and also TSP
were higher in dry season than those in wet
season as well. The concentrations of PM1,
PM2.5, PM7 and PM10 at the dry season were at
least two times those of wet season. Similar
high levels of particulates matters in dry
season were also reported by Ede et al., 2010;
Gobo et al., 2012 and Bada et al., 2013
[10,22,30]. This may be attributed to high
dispersion in dry season than in wet season.
Also, heavy rainfalls scavenge the atmosphere
of pollutants emitted from natural and
anthropogenic non-point sources [22]. In wet
season, the observed levels of suspended
particulate matter (TSP) in all the sampling
location areas were as follows: Rumuolumeni
(169.85µg/m3), Oginigba (89.57 µg/m3) and
Eleme (74.50µg/m3) and they were all below
5
the DPR and FME limit of 150 ˗ 230µg/m3 and
150µg/m3 air quality gathering respectively. At
the dry season monitoring, the levels were:
Rumuolumeni (1454.43µg/m3), Oginigba
(1150.47 µg/m3) and Eleme (1003.97µg/m3),
these levels were above the DPR and FME set
limit. The 10µm size particles reaches lungs,
deposits along the respiratory tract and causes
asthma or even lung cancer. The TSP levels at
all sampling sites were high during dry season
which may be due to increased dust particles
[10, 22], while low level recorded during wet
season may be as a result of particulates being
removed from atmosphere by vegetation and
incessant rainfall. The high levels of TSP
above DPR and FME limits of 250 and 150 -
230 µg/m3 respectively may be attributed to
the recent soot incident as reported in Port
Harcourt since November 2016, which may be
released by incomplete combustion of ill
managed coal fired power plants, forest fires,
cement dust, illegal refineries, burning of tyres
in order to access the copper imbedded in
them. These particulates could be blown by
wind and got mixed with air.
Particulate matter may cause damage by
discoloring/destroying painted surfaces,
corrode metals and building surfaces, soil
textiles and clothing. It may lead to climate
change such as net cooling for refractive
particles and while some soots absorb energy
and lead to warming and others change timing
and location of traditional rainfall pattern [22,
 J. Chem Soc. Nigeria, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp 7-14 [2018]

23].

Table 4: Mean seasonal levels of particulate matter

Samplin
g Points

Concentration in (µg/m3 x 101)

Wet Dry
PM1 PM2.5 PM7 PM10 TSP PM1 PM2.5 PM7 PM10 TSP

8.23 16.52 27.95 54.17 169.85 44.20 222.95 624.22 1139.63 1454.43
Rumuolumeni
±0.99 ±6.91 ±5.25 ±26.35 ±21.36 ±5.88 ±36.08 ±124.65 ±851.20 ±1092.86

16.47 26.17 30.03 50.40 89.57 38.95 199.70 385.80 1099.45 1150.47
Oginigba
±3.67 ±8.08 ±5.41 ±13.08 ±68.55 ±3.60 ±87.17 ±4.56 ±260.27 ±55.73
13.78 22.75 36.55 78.78 74.50 42.97 174.62 399.27 1053.97 1003.97
Eleme
±3.67 ±10.50 ±20.94 ±56.45 ±50.12 ±6.72 ±7.88 ±22.47 ±97.30 ±59.24
Omuanwa

4.17 5.52 8.97 11.45 31.52 36.07 150.27 353.93 516.73 1011.20
±1.87 ±2.49 ±4.37 ±5.14 ±3.49 ±1.02 ±9.16 ±0.60 ±479.24 ±15.06

DPR Limit - - - - - - 150 -230

- -
-
- -
FME - - - - - - 250
- -

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