ESTIMATION OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS AND HEALTH IMPLICATIONS DUE TO BIOMASS BURNING IN RURAL HOUSEHOLD KITCHEN IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237, 000 deaths of children under the age of 5. Large number these death case was particularly recorded in developing countries where many people rely heavily on biomass for energy. Burning biomass emits carbon monoxide and other pollutants resulting to indoor air pollution, exacerbations of asthma, hospitalizations for heart attacks and respiratory illness, birth defects, neurological diseases, and even mortality are all brought on by indoor air pollution. Because women and children typically do most of the cooking, they are most affected by indoor air pollution.. In this research active sampling technique was adopted in estimating the amount of three major criteria gaseous pollutants (CO, H₂S and SO₂) in the air in rural household kitchen within Jos metropolis. The Attair 5X gas detector was used. the power button was pressed and the equipment was allowed to initialize for few minutes, while, the readings was taken downwind in-situ at a distance of 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, and 5m respectively from the emission source at the expiration of one (1) minute for each distance to check the impact of emission on the environment and people in such area. Result obtained shows CO, H₂S and SO₂ where higher from firewood emission source when compared with charcoal emission sources from the 14 different rural kitchen in Bauchi ring road, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Hence this study serve as a ready reference for environmentalists to make target decision on air pollution reduction.