Awareness and Perceptions of Reisdents of Port Harcourt on the Health Effects of Pollutants from Vehicular Emissions in Port Harourt Metropolis

Air pollution comes mainly from four main sources namely; vehicular emissions, industrial activities, domestic cooking, and tobacco smoking. The increasing high volume of road traffic and congestion is a fundamental issue in Port Harcourt metropolis. The degradation of air quality arising from these is another serious dimension of the problem. A substantial number of residents (79.5%) were aware of vehicular emissions and their association with air pollution. Respondents linked air pollution in the city to power generating sets (27%), while over 24.5% indicted vehicular emissions to be the major contributor to air pollution after power generating sets. Over 91.7% of respondents believed that pollution from vehicular emissions have serious adverse health effects. They also expressed that vehicular emission is a major environmental health challenge in the metropolis. The study revealed that age, educational level, and occupation influenced both the level of awareness and the perception of health risks related to vehicular emissions at p<0.05.