Model Estimates and In-situ Measurements of the Concentrations of Some Gaseous Pollutants in Some Selected Standard Kitchens in Makurdi-Nigeria

Abstract

This work assessed and compared the concentrations of some gaseous pollutants in some selected standard kitchens in Makurdi-Nigeria using in-situ measurements and models estimates. Mean concentrations of CO, NO₂ and SO₂ were measured using Crowcon gasman meters in all the selected kitchens. The results obtained show that CO and NO₂ concentrations were observed in all the selected kitchens in concentrations below the permissible limit of 20 ppm and 0.6 ppm respectively set by National Ambient Air Quality Standard and SO₂ was not observed. The mean concentrations for model estimates were found to be slightly higher compared to that of in-situ measurement in all the study kitchens for both pollutants, which is an indication of the strength of the model estimate. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) was also computed to be 0.99 and 0.36 for CO and NO₂ respectively.The correlation is very strong and positive for CO (r = 0.99) and is weak but also positive for NO₂ (r = 0.37). This implies that the model estimates used in this work has 99 % validity estimating indoor concentrations of CO where in-situ measurements are not possible. However, the positive correlation between the in-situ measurements and models estimates indicate that both are positively related.