Spatial Ambient Air Quality Analysis and Its Effects on the Traffic Police Officers within the Central Business District in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, every person is entitled to a clean and healthy environment. Although clean air is a basic requirement for human health and well-being, air pollution continues to pose a significant threat to the health of people worldwide. In Kenya the traffic police officers (TPO’s) spend most of their time on the road controlling traffic a condition that exposes them to automobile pollution. This study investigated the levels of automobile emissions and determined the health effects of exposure to these toxins. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from vehicles were therefore sampled at ten selected sites in the Central Business District (CBD) in Nairobi. It was carried out through nonexperimental cross sectional survey employing both qualitative and qualitative data collection method. The sampling were carried out in the morning (between 7.00 and 9.00 am), at noon (between 12.00 and 2.00 pm) and evening (between 5.00 and 7.00 pm). A gas Aspiration pump AP-20 together with detector tubes were used to determine the levels of NOx, CO emissions while Testo 435 multifunction measuring instrument was used to determine CO2 levels, wind velocity and temperature at ten purposely selected sites within the CBD. The results showed that CO2, CO and NOx sampled had means of 634.80 parts per million (ppm), 12.74 ppm and 2.56 ppm respectively. These results demonstrated that CO2 were far much below the Occupational Exposure Limits –Control Limit for the gas while CO2 and NOx levels were found to be above the WHO thresh hold limits for the gases respectively. These findings suggest that the TPO’s were at risk of being affected by the emissions with continued exposure. It is therefore recommended that measures be put in place to reduce both emissions levels and also period of exposure.