Abstract

Ambient air is vital to the survival of human and animals. The composition of ambient air varies depending on the elevation above sea level as well as human factors such as the level of pollution. The ambient air quality therefore is directly affected by the activities of people. Ambient air within the vicinity of cow rearing sites of Shadawanka and Obienu Barracks Bauchi, Nigeria was assessed between the month of February and March, 2018 using Standard methods with some modifications. The study has provided estimate of some gases as NH3 and H2S emitted by cows in Shadawanka and Obienu barracks Bauchi. The result from the transmittance revealed that higher mean level of transmittance of NH3 were observed in the sampling point B and minimum value at point C with the mean SD of 58.00± 0.638 and 2.4 ± 0.476 respectively. For H2S mean values of 89.93 ± 6.557 and 86.63 ± 3.377 with elevated values at sampling point A. NH3 absorbance ranged from 1.614 ± 0.014 to 0.432 ±0.423 across the study areas and the trend of H2S have maximum mean value of 0.046 ± 0.005 thus the pattern in sampling point C was irregular with sampling point A and sampling point B having the maximum mean value of NH3 absorbance of 0.075± 0.014 and 0.070 ± 0.015. NH3 concentration ranged from 134.13±1.147 to 50.93±0.200 mg/L across the study areas and H2S concentration of site 1, 2, 3 had the maximum mean value of 8.66 ± 2.802 mg/L in site C and the minimum mean value of 7.07± 1.351mg/L in site B. The result also showed the trends between the identified gaseous pollutants. However, the overall assessment of air quality in the area indicated a result that would be described as healthful. The levels of emission could further be mitigated by proper control of air quality within the study areas.

Key words: Assessment, Ambient Air Quality, Pollution, Cow Rearing Sites, Bauchi, Nigeria,