Impacts on Human Health

The facts:

Cairo         10,000 TO 25,000 deaths annually from pollution

The World         27 million deaths annually from pollution (1)

 

 A 1994 USAID study (2) identified air pollution as the highest environmental health risk in Cairo. Fumes from Cairo's 1.2 million vehicles combined with lead, sulfur dioxide and suspended particulate matter, plus sand blown from the neighboring Western Desert create a daily health hazard for its inhabitants.

 

 Here’s what a Cairene emergency room might look like on a day of particularly high concentrations of air pollutants:

 

High blood pressure, kidney problems and disorders to the nervous system.

The culprit: high lead concentrations in the air from poor car emissions and  lead foundries in Cairo and outskirts (2).

 

Heart problems, reduced lung capacity, reduction of the blood’s hemoglobin’s availability.

The culprit: carbon monoxyde from car emissions and sand blown in from the desert (although not a pollutant in itself,

when combined with airborne lead and other pollutants sand becomes a deadly respiratory weapon and also cause

asthma).

Reality check: in the poor industrial quarter of Shobra al-Kheima in northern Cairo, 37.4 percent of residents suffer from lung problems (3);  this could almost be described as a mini-epidemic.

 

Respiratory illness, nervous disorders, endocrine system perturbations, hepatic troubles and sexual dysfunction.

The culprit: sulfur dioxide; again this pollutant’s health impact is compounded by airborne solid suspended matter particles. Fine particulate and sulfur oxide–related pollution have been associated with lung cancer and cardiopulmonary mortality. Each 10-µg/m3 elevation in fine particulate air pollution was associated with

approximately a 4%, 6%, and 8 increased risk (3).

 

Reality check: in two southern Cairo suburbs named Helwan and Mahdi a report showed that heart and lung complaints linked to sulfur dioxide and solid particles were the second cause of death (3). There are over 30 factories located in Helwan.

 

 Other factors such as high temperatures and smog, which sometimes appear over Cairo, exacerbate many of the health hazards described above; sometimes they can cause premature death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children’s Health

Children are more affected than humans by airborne pollution. Some specific problems faced by the youngest generation include vitamin D deficiencies caused by lack of quality sunlight (the sun’s rays are blocked by smog on those more polluted days), loss of intelligence (at an average of 4.25 I.Q. points) as a result of excessive lead concentrations (5), and tooth decay—again, as a result of excessive lead exposure (it was found that an 80% jump in the risk of tooth decay for every 5 micrograms per deciliter increase in lead levels (6).

 

Mortality and Economics

 

One-third of Egypt’s total population lives in Cairo. It is predicted that half a million of Cairo’s residents will develop in a period of 5-25 years serious health problems that will result in premature death. Assuming that each person will receive medical treatment worth 10,000 Egyptian pounds (doctors, medication, and hospitals over 5-25 years) the total cost to the economy will be 5 billion Egyptian pounds (7).

 Long-term cost-analysis studies (over 10, 15 years) would be helpful for assessing the health care cost of the current pollution crisis in Egypt. A potential conclusion would determine that a continued enactment of new policies and initiatives (see Policy section for details) addressing pollution, monitoring mechanisms and awareness-building among the population would be a more cost-effective approach in the long-run.