I was on a working visit to Afghanistan in fall of 2003. It was unpleasant to see the already degraded environment in Afghanistan continuing to be all the time more destroyed. I witnessed too many instances of pollution in the form of water, air, soil and the ugly scenery of uncontrolled solid waste and manure on the streets.
Of all the environmental externalities, air pollution is the most obvious and appalling in major urban centers of Afghanistan such as Kabul. However, due to prevailing public ignorance of ordinary citizens, the average resident is unaware to the ever-worsening situation. The problem is compounded because the media, health organizations, and state authorities are also naïve of the situation.
Nowadays, smog is a common phenomenon in Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan, while a combination of dust and smoke is common air pollution in rural Afghanistan. However, as of yet, no systematic investigation to find the amount of suspended particulates in the air has been carried out. Nonetheless, it is quite safe to assume that Afghanistan's urban dwellers are exposed to many of the worst toxic and carcinogenic air pollutants known to humanity.
The principal source of air pollution in Kabul is the externality of increased fuel usage. Fuel usage employed in small-scale industry, for heating and cooking, road transportation, increasing diesel usage for transportation, and construction. Vehicle emissions are the main factors negatively affecting air quality. According to the post-conflict assessment report of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in 2003, there are almost half a million cars, 30,000 buses and 50,000 trucks in the country. These figures are growing rapidly and most of these vehicles run on low-grade diesel.
Results of air sampling in major urban centers of Afghanistan by UNEP in 2003 indicate high amounts of dust and concentration of poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), most likely originating from vehicle exhaust emissions. Benzo-a-pyrene is also one of the pollutants detected and is believed to increase the risk of lung cancer, the highest concentrations of which were detected in the air samples from Mazar-e-Sharif. Concentrations of this pollutant for Kabul and Kandahar were at the allowable range of the World Health Organization (WHO) values, while those for Herat were below the WHO values.
The potential risks to human health from PAHs through inhalation are increased by the presence of dust in the air, for it binds hydrocarbon particles and prevents them from escaping into the upper atmosphere. This is particularly of concern in Kabul, where a combination of conditions, such as the topographical configuration of the landscape and cold climate make the situation even worse.
During late autumn and winter, air quality is worsened by the increase of domestic emissions arising from inefficient residential heating technologies. Electricity shortages and a lack of access to fuel wood force the population to resort to burning packaging materials, including plastic that cause the release of toxic fumes.
In Kabul, during the cold seasons, the heating and energy needs for transportation are also substantially increased. The mountainous topography of Kabul is such that it leads to frequent thermal inversions, an atmospheric condition that can cover parts of the city for days, resulting in air pollution to reach extreme concentrations and in some cases, bring the visibility to only a few meters.
In Kabul the improvement of air pollution issues is dependent on achieving improved air quality and inspection regimes, better traffic flow management, reduction of dependency on small motor vehicles, improvement of the efficiency in household energy use, and above all, an adequate policy for a sustainable urban development. A design and implementation of a national air quality standard and policy could be a prerequisite to the achievement of these goals.
