Flared Gases and Other Pollutants Associated with Air Quality in Industrial Areas of Nigeria: An Overview

Abstract

Nigeria, like any other developing nation, is faced with the twin problem of development without destruction. Industrialization, though an important component of development, has had a large share in the despoilation of air quality in the country by the release of high amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere. Petroleum hydrocarbons from refineries, flared gases, dusts, and fumes of metal-smelting and cement works, odorous gases of chemical and allied industries, carbon monoxide and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen of internal combustion engines, the charred particulates and sulfur dioxide emissions of the steel industries etc., all constitute pollutants or co-pollutants of the Nigerian atmosphere. This review article gives an insight into the phenomenal concentrations of some of these pollutants in the Nigerian atmosphere, which point to their unsafe levels and concomitant health risks. It is against this background that there should be continuous but sound monitoring exercise of the Nigerian environment, devoid of the peculiar mix of politics and science, in order to properly audit the quality of air, especially in areas of heavy industrial pollution. Such checks and balances would provide empirical data to assess the various trade-offs of atmospheric pollution in industrial areas of the country such as the Niger Delta region where oil and gas are produced. There should also be enforcement, thereof, of all existing and/or revised standards or regulations such as the compliance limits of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) or the erstwhile Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA).

Contributions of gas flaring to a global air pollution hotspot: Spatial and temporal variations, impacts and alleviation

“…However, we were able to use a spatially and temporally limited set of ambient monitoring data (Osuji and Avwiri, 2005) for the purposes of model verification. The monitoring sites were used as receptors, and modelled concentrations were compared to observed concentrations at each site.…”

Towards a new framework for air quality management in Nigeria

“…in the Niger Delta, fumes from metal-smelting and cement works, fugitive gases from other chemical and allied industries, and charred particulates and sulphur dioxide emissions from the steel industries (Osuji and Avwiri [15]). These pollutants are not usually confined to the emission point sources.…”

Local air pollution from oil rig emissions observed during the airborne DACCIWA campaign

“…This process emits a mixture of trace gases like carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and particulate matter. Its impacts concern both the ecosystems (Nwaugo et al, 2006;Nwankwo and Ogagarue, 2011) and the air quality (Osuji and Avwiri, 2005). The pollutants can be transported into the free troposphere (Fawole et al, 2016b) or can reach coastal cities in the marine boundary layer (MBL).…”