Cairo

Environment

Industrial and vehicular emissions combine to give Cairo a serious air pollution problem. Thousands of old vehicles crowd the city streets without government regulation of emission levels, and the city's factories create additional environmental hazards. Levels of both lead and particulate emissions far exceed internationally acceptable standards. In the 1990s the Egyptian government began a serious effort to improve the city's air quality, with legislation requiring air filters in factories as well as an air-quality-improvement project, the Cairo Air Improvement Project (CAIP), designed to reduce pollution from lead and particulates. CAIP's goals included development of a vehicle emission testing and certification program; increasing the use of compressed natural gas a fuel in municipal buses; the upgrading and relocation of secondary lead smelters; and air quality monitoring and analysis.