PARTICULATE AIR CONTAMINATION IN ABAKALIKI, EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA
Udeajah, Victoria N. and Obini E. Ekpe
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki
Email: Vakadujah45 @yahoo.com, Obiniekpe@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
This work is both a review of existing knowledge as well as a Ph.D experimental project carried out between July 2007 and July 2008 to ascertain whether the air inhaled in Abakaliki is fit for consumption. It has been observed that there have not been any air quality monitoring around Abakaliki with the presence of expressways and resident quarries. The study has been repeated between March and April 2011 with the replacement of quarries by construction companies. It has been observed that the number of people complaining of eye and respiratory complications increase with the number of quarries, etc. Users of Biomedical engineering equipment report of frequent breakdown when they site them close to the areas with abundant particulate matter(dust). See EBSUTHAI record of Biomedical Engineering repair from 2004 to 2005(included ).The need for this repeat study arose when The Ebonyi State Government decided to remove all quarries to Ezza North to see whether any improvement will be shown from the readings gotten by an experiment personally carried out by me on the instruction of my Supervisor. Out of coincidence, new double lane roads took over from where the quarries stopped as shown from the readings gotten using the chemical balance. This study was initially carried out as a project in the Catholic University of Puerto Rico by Richard R. Eckert between 1976 and 1977. In the initial research, they were able ableto verify that the results of the monitoring were correct and the particulate pollution determinations were along with the Federal standards specified by the 1970 “Clean Air Act”. This specifies too that the particulate contamination should not be greater than 260/ug/m3 on one day during a given year. It also specifies that the long term average should not exceed 75/ug/m3. The study recommend ways of compating and cushioning the effects of Particulate air Contamination.