Author(s)

J.G. Kretzschmar

Abstract

Air pollution levels and trends in Latin American megacities J.G. Kretzschmar VITO, Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Division Energy, B-2400 Mol, Belgium ABSTRACT Historical and up-to-date information on the ambient levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, smoke, suspended particulate matter and lead have been collected and analysed for the metropolitan areas of Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. For some specific sites in those megacities, with a population somewhere between ten and twenty million, information goes as far back as the end of the sixties I Trends are analysed and present levels are compared with the WHO air quality guidelines for the protection of human health. INTRODUCTION If megacities are defined as urban agglomerations with a population exceeding 10 million, Latin America presently has four megacities namely the Metropolitan Area of M

Keywords