What is air pollution?

Air pollution is the man-made and natural pollution in the atmosphere.

What are the main sources of air pollution?

• Industry - the burning of fossil fuels gives rise to emissions of sulphur or nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere
• Motor vehicles - carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are emitted from the exhaust systems of cars running on petroleum.
• Particulates - these originate from dusty industries, soot from chimneys, sand, and pollens blown in by the wind
• The burning of wood and refuse - carbon Monoxide, dioxins and other poisons are emitted into the atmosphere
• Industrial processes - fluorides, aldehydes, lead, beryllium and cadmium are emitted from various industries into the atmosphere
• Pollens and moulds

What are the effects of air pollution?

• Destroys vegetation and crops
• Leads to disease, injury and ill health effects
• Corrodes silver and rusts iron and other metals
• Makes tyres crack and nylon perish
• Peels and discolours paint
• Corrodes building structures and monuments
• Adds to cleaning bills

Clean air is everyone's responsibility! What is the City of Cape Town doing about it?

• Enforcing legislation
• Monitoring levels of pollution
• Applying the Tall Stack Policy, which decreases ground level pollution concentrations
• Judicious siting of sources of pollution
• Testing of diesel vehicles
• Educating the public regarding air pollution
• Declaring smokeless zones
• Monitoring efficiency of fuel burning appliances in factories

What can you do about it?

• Do not burn rubbish
• Tune motor vehicle engines regularly
• Limit the use of fossil fuels
• Report unauthorised burning of waste material to the authorities
• Install catalytic converters to exhaust systems using lead-free petrol
• Conserve and curb the use of electricity and any other fuel