Home
Join
Inches
About
Inches
Inches
Activities
News
Main Goals
Associates
Support
Site
Index
EGYPT: Cairo Grapples With Pollution Woes
A lingering "black fog" of vehicle exhaust, lead fumes and other suspended particles has made Cairo one of the world's most polluted cities, the Wall Street Journal reports in a front-page feature.
The US Agency for International Development says the city's air pollution kills 10,000 to 25,000 people a year, and the lead content probably reduces the average child's IQ by four points. Other environmental problems include unregistered lead smelters and backyard dumps and "primitive" solid waste recycling methods.
The government is aware of the problems, but environmental protection "isn't Egypt's strong suit." There were no environmental laws until 1995, and enforcement has been "sporadic." The country phased out leaded gasoline in 1997, but it has not yet set up an emissions-inspection system for Cairo's 2 million "aging" vehicles.
Lately, the government has focused more attention on indoor pollution than outdoors because of tourist complaints about unsanitary restaurants. In November, it issued an environmental directive requiring the planting of greenery to soak up pollutants and the installation of "ozonators," machines said to manufacture and disperse ozone and make airborne contaminants less harmful. But the US Environmental Protection Agency says the ozone machines are a "sham."
A 1998 EPA study said the machines were ineffective and potentially dangerous because ozone can be a health threat to humans.
(Christopher Cooper, Wall Street Journal, 19 Jan)