Effects of New Year Eve’s Fireworks on the Ambient Air Quality in Woji Community, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Globally, celebrations of public holidays, religious and traditional festivals, sporting events, political and military victories, and other occasions often include pyrotechnic displays, or fireworks. The effects of fireworks display on the air quality of Woji community, Port Harcourt metropolis during the 2016 New Year Eve celebration has been determined experimentally. Four (4) monitoring sites where firework display is a yearly occurrence were chosen for the study. At each of the identified monitoring site, five (5) air quality monitoring parameters, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) were determined using a series of hand held air quality monitoring equipment. Average value of PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO and SO2 was 395.98(μg/m3), 311.38(μg/m3), 22.64ppm, 20.23ppm, and 7.32ppm respectively. Levels of measured parameters across all monitoring sites were above regulatory limits. Hourly measured levels of PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO and SO2 across all monitoring stations are higher than on four previous air quality studies. Air quality index (AQI) indicates that the air quality in the study area within the study period can be described as unhealthy for active children, women and adults, and people with respiratory disease such as asthma. The federal, state, and local governments must make use of the findings of this study to protect the Nigeria environment.