Anthropogenic Sources of

Air Pollution

 

Secondary Lead Smelting

 

      There are fourteen recognized lead smelters in Cairo, all but one of which are privately owned. All lead smelters in the Cairo area are secondary smelting facilities which melt down old car batteries, scrap metal, lead pipes and fixtures to produce new lead (1). Secondary lead smelters produce 40,000-50,000 tons of lead annually, and emit nearly 500 tons of lead into Cairo’s air(1) accounting for 79% of total emissions in  2000 (2). Measures have been taken to move lead smelters to less populated rural areas; however there are many unregistered back-yard smelting operations which make regulation of the lead smelting industry difficult and costly. 

 

 

 

Automobiles and Power Plants

       -Vehicles and power plants derive their energies from the conversion of fossil fuels in their internal combustion                                                                              

      chambers. (3)

 

The Combustion Process

      Gasoline and diesel fuels are mixtures of hydrocarbons. In a "perfect" engine, oxygen in the air would convert all the hydrogen in the fuel to water and all the carbon in the fuel to carbon dioxide. Nitrogen in the air would remain unaffected. In reality, the combustion process cannot be "perfect," and automotive engines emit several types of pollutants. (3)

 

      "Perfect" Combustion:

          FUEL (hydrocarbons) + AIR (oxygen and nitrogen) ==>> CARBON DIOXIDE + water + unaffected nitrogen

         

      Typical Engine Combustion:

  FUEL + AIR ==>> UNBURNED HYDROCARBONS + NITROGEN OXIDES CARBON MONOXIDE + CARBON DIOXIDE + water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open-Air Waste Burning

 

      Each year approximately 1 million acres of rice is grown in the governorates surrounding Cairo. For each ton of rice that is produced, farmers are left with two tons of rice straw to dispose of. After the harvest in October and November, farmers need to get rid of nearly 2 million tons of rice straw before the winter planting season. The burning of rice straw releases large quantities of carbon monoxide (CO2) and particulates, creating “black clouds” of pollution that linger over Cairo and the surrounding area (4).

      Some governorates such as Kalyoubiya, outside of Cairo, have outlawed rice-straw burning and have imposed hefty fines on any violators who are caught. However most burning is done at night, when officials are off-duty. The increased popularity of rice in the region has led more farmers to plant rice crops in recent years, thus making the problem worse.

      Within the Cairo city limits, open-air trash burning has produced similar effects, however officials in Cairo have been more successful in curbing such activities (5).

      Programs are currently being developed to encourage Egyptians to find other means of waste disposal and to better enforce the laws and fines against such hazardous waste disposal .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cement Industry

 

 The cement industry in Egypt is one of the main sources of fine particulate matter, which is another principal health concern. The cement industry consists of eight major plants, three of which are in Helwan (Greater Cairo). A major portion (60 percent) of the production in these plants is an uneconomical wet process that emits many pollutants, instead of the more efficient dry process. Total dust emissions from the five plants in Greater Cairo and Alexandria are estimated at 250,000 to 600,000 tons per year (4).