Unfortunately Cairo, like all the world’s mega cities, struggles with air pollution. It is vaguely estimated that the level of air pollution in downtown Cairo is somewhere from 10 to 100 times higher than the standards set by the World Health Organization. The air is reported to carry lead, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and suspended particles due to unregulated car emissions, urban industrial operations, and burning. Cairo’s geography and climate exacerbate the problem.
While there is no doubt that the quality of Cairo’s air can be poor, it is important to keep perspective: Cairo does not appear on any of the media’s major lists of the world’s most polluted cities. Cairo did not make Popular Science’s list of the ten World’s Dirtiest Cities, Time’s list of ten of the World’s Most PollutedPlaces, or even Forbes’s list of the twenty-five World’s Dirtiest Cities. These lists are topped by cities in China, India, Mexico, and other parts of Africa. Even Pittsburg, USA made the Popular Science list mentioned above. For further perspective, a 2009 report by the American Lung Association found that air pollution, at times, reaches unhealthy levels in almost every major city in the USA.
You should also know that the air pollution varies in different parts of Cairo. According to a study by the Egyptian Air Pollution Research Department of the National Research Centre published in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution in 2003, air pollution is least in low-density residential areas, and highest in industrial areas. The Egyptian government, with the continued help of foreign nations, has begun to impose air quality standards among the relevant industries and instill a sense of accountability among its citizens. Progress is predictably slow.
What you can do:
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Choose to live in a low-density residential area away from industry
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Stay in on days when the air quality is especially poor
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Don’t exercise outdoors on poor air-quality days
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Avoid exercise that causes you to breath road fumes (biking, running or walking on the busy streets)
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Get out of the city to areas with clean air as often as you can
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An indoor air filter may help remove pollutants from indoor air
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For those with respiratory allergies be sure to take prescribed preventative medications and find a good physician to manage your care locally
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Drive a car with safe emissions or do not own a car, so as not to contribute to the problem
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Don’t smoke and avoid places where you breath the smoke of others
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Find ways to encourage friends, colleagues, and staff to think about improving air quality