6- Egypt
Pollution level: 138 ug/m3
Egypt’s biggest sources of pollution are factories notorious for polluting the air with lead, gases and cement dust. In addition to that, vehicle exhaust fumes are a major problem in big cities like Cairo, which had about 2.1 million vehicles on the roads as of 2007. Egypt’s environmentalists have also been battling to control pollution caused every autumn when farmers burn rice chaff and other crop remnants. The pollution, known as “Black Cloud,” occurs after the harvest, and is responsible for over 40 percent of the air pollution in Cairo during this period.
