Assessment of ambient air quality and noise levels in Ajegunle farm settlement, Abeokuta, Ogun State

Abstract

The assessment of ambient air quality and noise levels in Ajegunle Farm Settlement was carried out with a view to providing information for improved farming activity. Randomly selected sampling farms were done using MultiRae lite© gas meter, Aerotrack©
particulate counter and Intelsafe® digital sound meter to collect data at different farms in the study area. Descriptive survey design method was used for this research and Geographical Positioning System was used to obtain spatial attribute of every farm where data was collected. Mean value were recorded and Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to analyzed the data. The result showed high concentration of CO₂ (348-412.67 ppm); Suspended Particulate Matter SPM (0.54-1.29 mg/m³ ); noise level (51.83-71.17 dB) while NH₃ (0.00-0.33 ppm) was extremely low in concentration. Correlation which reveals relationship is weak but positive for SPM and NH₃  (0.290), also SPM showed weak and positive relationship (0.119) with CO₂ while SPM and Noise showed very weak and negative relationship (-0.057). Some of the Noise values collected were higher than the maximum noise permissible limit. The study concluded that in order to mitigate the noxious impact of pollutants generated during farming activities, a routine assessment of the air quality and noise levels of farm settlement is imperative so as to safeguard public health and livestock production.

Keywords: Pollutants, Permissible limits, Mitigate, Routine assessment, Public health.