Assessment of Air Quality Parameters in Selected Road Intersections in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: A Case Study of their Potential Impacts on Terrestrial and Aquatic Environment

Selected air quality parameters (SO2, NO2, CO, PM2.5 and PM10) concentrations were measured at selected road intersections within the study area. SO2, NO2, CO, PM2.5 and PM10 were found to be above permissible limits of Federal Ministry of Environment (FME) and WHO, while CO was within the limit at all sampling stations. The result of the statistical analysis showed that the P-value was less than 0.05 (level of significance) in PM2.5 and PM10 parameters, which imply that these air quality parameters were significantly different from the FME limits. Similarly, NO2 and SO2 results showed significant differences when compared with FME standards. Generally, the results showed that the concentration the assessed pollutants were significantly higher than the recommended Nigeria FME limits. Thus, they constitute potential sources of health hazards to humans and aquatic flora and fauna within the water bodies in the study area. Routine monitoring of these air quality parameters and advocacy on their impacts on terrestrial and aquatic environment cum organisms amongst others, were recommended as a way of reducing air pollution within the study area.