Pollution (How do you cope???)

It is really bad and the health statistics show it.  Just google "asthma Cairo" or "Cairo air pollution" and you'll see a lot of info.  The last official statistic I saw placed Cairo in 2nd place worldwide (Mexico City was the worst) but that was a couple of years ago and they've made some improvements, though population increases and so on have probably at least kept it level.  To me it seems to be getting worse.  I don't know anyone here who doesn't fight sinus or breathing problems at least part of the time.  The pharmacies keep Albuterol inhalers on hand by the case and they sell well before the expiration date on them is even close.  I should buy stock in their manufacturers now that I think of it...

pollution in general is concentrated in crowded areas... try to find a place at the peripheries like new cairo, rehab city, 6 october, al rehab city... or even alexandria ...less polluted than cairo...other cities like hurgada, sharm , and towns like dahab are also considerable

happy coping

Thanks backtothesuture!
Do you really find that those areas are cleaner? My new post is in New Cairo, so might that might be better for commuting too

Hey Lass,

Pollution here is bad and very visable too!
We have beat Mexico and I think were named most polluted city in the world a couple of years ago!
Alexandria is LESS polluted than Cairo, I go there every other weekend to get away from it (and to visit my parents).
Trips out in to the desert is another thing that I like to do.
Then you have sea side get aways in Ein Sokhna and Ras Sidr.
Egyptians don't walk around with masks on their faces. Only Asian tourists.

Regretfully, Egyptians don't seem to care either.

WORST TIME OF YEAR; is sand storm season (April-May)

Well pollution seems to be quite a trend here

I wouldn't name 6th of October as a pollution free zone as it is an industrial area.

Generally sea side coastal cities are less polluted than other cities (Alexandria, Hurghada , Sharm El Shiekh, ..etc).

I think the desert & the country side may be less polluted as well.

Cairo is by far the most polluted area of all, the amount of cars, companies, sheer mass of people & their daily waste seem to be the driving force behind the ever escalating pollution problem.

As for Egyptians not caring I really don't think about it in terms of care & I really can't generalize as IrishAlex did.

Just like any place in the world there are people who care while  others just don't its  as simple as that. But the Egyptian government doesn't seem to be have a plan to lessen the impact &  individuals can only do so much.

As for the sand storm I don't even think thats attributed to pollution its like saying  a tsunami or a hurricane is part of pollution. Its a force of nature totally uncontrollable.

As for the masks only the Asian tourists wear them, most of the other tourists don't. It'd be ridiculous to wear a mask every day of your life if your stay is long.

I agree with you now Cairo become the most pollutant city in the world, Alex is clean
But to clean your lung you need to go to village not to desert, I do like that
I disagree with you about the worst time is not April and May in these two months we have just sand and I don’t  consider sand as pollutant the worst pollutant are the CO , Hydro carbons HC, and soots from diesel engines also don’t forget the exhaust from Cement factories and Ceramics and the concentration of these material increase in September and October when the Speed of wind reach it lowest limit in the Year and we call it here in Egypt the black cloud,
I think Egyptians must start use face mask inside Cairo ( we ask Allah to help us).

One of my reasons which push me to move from Egypt is the pollution:-(

IrishAlexandrian wrote:

Hey Lass,

Pollution here is bad and very visable too!
We have beat Mexico and I think were named most polluted city in the world a couple of years ago!
Alexandria is LESS polluted than Cairo, I go there every other weekend to get away from it (and to visit my parents).
Trips out in to the desert is another thing that I like to do.
Then you have sea side get aways in Ein Sokhna and Ras Sidr.
Egyptians don't walk around with masks on their faces. Only Asian tourists.

Regretfully, Egyptians don't seem to care either.

WORST TIME OF YEAR; is sand storm season (April-May)

I didn't mean to say that sand is a form of pollution!
I don't think I explained myself well!

I should have said that during sand storm season it's hard to breath, because it's in the air and you will find yourself biting on grains of sand.

I apologie and stand corrected!

Actually, any sand and dust from sandstorms that you ingest into your lungs is harmful, especially when combined with cement dust or any other form of silicon.  The lung disease called silicosis is very common here, especially among people who work in or live near the concrete and marble industries.  Breathing sand and dust during the sandstorms adds to lung problems and anything one can do to reduce the amount ingested is very beneficial.