Contributions Of Black Carbon Concentration To Atmospheric Particulate Matter Levels In Navrongo Senior High School. October 2010-March 2011.

ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to assess the black carbon concentration in air borne particulate matter in ambient air due to the use of biomass for cooking in the Navrongo Senior High School. The Gent air sampler was used to sample airborne particulate matter in the Navrongo Senior High School. These particulates were collected on nuclepore polycarbonate filters for a period of six months. In addition to determination of particulate mass in the two fractions by gravimetric method the aerosol filters were also analyzed for black carbon BC concentration levels using the black smoke reflectometer method. The average fine fraction mass concentration determined was 134.59gm-3 with a minimum of 9.28gm-3 and a maximum of 338.11gm-3 and that of coarse fraction CF was 355.04gm-3 with a minimum of 61.73gm-3 and a maximum of 1117.43gm-3. The black carbon concentration in fine average was 7.62gm-3 with a minimum of 1.68gm-3 and a maximum of 35.35gm-3 and that of the coarse was 6.92gm-3 with a minimum of 1.76gm-3 and a maximum of 22.61gm-3. The results of this research were compared to other works in the country. It was however realized that the values of this research were about twice as much as the other works. This was due to the fact that biomass burning is generally used for cooking in the study area which is usual of Northern Ghana and so produces a lot of black carbon as compared to the other area which are semi-urban areas in the southern part of the country. The values obtained for coarse to fine particulate matter ratio suggest that the particulates were not only largely made up of combustion generated carbonaceous particles but also particulate matter emissions from natural activities.