CONTROL OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The world Health Organization (2005), estimates that 4.6 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution. Many of these mortalities are attributable to indoor air pollution which is responsible for large numbers of deaths and cases of respiratory disease in residential buildings world -wide. In Nigeria, there are many sources of air pollution in residential buildings such as burning wood, fire places, stoves, furnaces, incinerators, uncontrolled fires, and motor vehicles generating air pollution emissions. The lack of ventilation indoors concentrates air pollution where people have greatest exposure time. This paper therefore examines adequate ventilation as a key to controlling exposure to indoor air pollution in residential buildings in Nigeria. This paper also looks at the role building materials play in emitting substances that cause indoor air pollution. The paper concludes by suggesting the available indoor air pollution control.