KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF THE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION ON THE HEALTH OF MOTORCYCLE RIDERS (ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
ABSTRACT
This study examined the knowledge and awareness of effect of air pollution on the health of motorcycle riders in coker/aguda local council development area. The sample consisted of 110 motorcycle riders in Coker/Aguda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State. Variables studied are knowledge and awareness of the effect of air pollution on health. Knowledge and awareness of effect of air pollution on their health were assessed through a 20 item self developed questionnaire. Data was analyzed using simple percentage. Results from the findings show that the motorcycle riders in Coker/Aguda Local Council Development Area are knowledgeable and aware of the effect of air pollution on their health. The study recommended that seminar should be organized periodically to educate motorcycle riders inensuring a conducive and enabling environment for good living, law enforcement agency should encourage motorcycle riders to go for ministry of transportation test to avoid air pollution. State government should recommend nose bluff to the motorcycle riders in prevention of respiratory disorders, more research should be carried out in the area of effect of air pollution on health, the use of eye goggle should also be recommended in the prevention of itching and discomfort of the eye.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The land can be cleaned up before we use it, and purify water before we drink it, but, except in air-conditioned rooms, we must breathe air as it comes to us. Automobiles, factories, heating furnaces, power plants, trash incinerators, each add to the problem, so control is difficult. (Microsoft Encarta 2009). Air pollution is a major environmental problem throughout the world. Most air pollution problems thus result from man’s pattern of energy use and production.
Air quality is affected by economic activities which introduce pollutants into the atmosphere that pose threats to human health and other life forms on earth. It furthermore has the potential to change the climate with unpredictable, but potentially severe consequences on a local and global scale. Because large bodies of air cannot be contained, atmospheric pollution can only be controlled at its source.At present there is no comprehensive information on air quality or on the levels of emissions entering the atmosphere from different sources.
However, air pollution is a major environmental risk to health. By reducing air pollution levels, we can help countries reduce the global burden of disease from respiratory infections, heart disease, and lung cancer. The lower the levels of air pollution in a city, the better respiratory (both long- and short-term), and cardiovascular health of the population will be.
Apollutant is the wrong stuff in the wrong place at the wrong time, and especially in developed nations such as ours, avoiding pollution is not necessarily easy. The problem is made worse by a loss of ownership of the problem; by reality gaps between government agencies which must regulate and monitor on the broader level of pollutant averages over time and local citizens that are justifiably upset over local episodes; and by entrenchment in the comfort of our own consumptive lifestyles and by limited alternatives.
