Air Quality Assessment of Solid Waste Dumps in Residential Neighbourhoods of Makurdi Town

Abstract

The environs of urban centres in most developing countries are facing a serious depreciation in terms of quality of life caused by inadequate or poor solid waste management systems. Municipal solid waste management has been a challenging task for many cities. This study, therefore, assesses the effect of disposed neighbourhood solid waste on the air quality in Makurdi town. MSA Altair 5X Multi-gas Detector manufactured by Mine Safety Appliance Company USA was employed to measure the concentration of ambient air in the dumpsite’s environment in the neighbourhoods. The ambient air quality measured were compared with regulatory  standards of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for Environmental Pollution Control in Nigeria which stipulated emission limits of pollutants from stationary sources such as from a site, process, stack and vent. Findings reveal poor ambient air quality in waste dumps due to the presence of concentrations of potentially harmful pollutants around solid waste dumpsites in Wadata and North Bank areas among the five selected neighbourhoods. The result shows the mean concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) gas (16.0ppm), H₂S (M =10.51ppm), and CH₄ (M = 12.17ppm) recorded in Wadata, and North Bank: CO (M=12.16ppm), H₂S (M = 4.17ppm), and CH4 (M = 4.16ppm) recorded were above the regulatory standards recommended.