SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF MAGNETIC POLLUTANTS AROUND ROAD NETWORKS IN ABUJA METROPOLIS

Vehicle emissions are the major sources of magnetic grains pollution especially in urban areas and places with high vehicular activities. These magnetic grains tend to accumulate around the road corridors and form part of the roadside dust. To investigate the spatial distribution and extent to which they can be deposited, Magnetic susceptibility mapping was conducted around 20 busy road pavements within Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. From the results obtained, magnetic susceptibility was found to decrease with distance from the road pavements and also deposition of these magnetic grains tend to occur at a distance of more than 8.0 m from the road. High concentration of magnetic grains was observed immediately after the road pavement to a distance of about 3.0 m away from the road pavement. This indicates that, vehicular activities are generally responsible for these magnetic pollutants. From this work also, it is clear that magnetic susceptibility measurement can be successfully used to map out contamination area especially those polluted with heavy metals.