In general, much of the air pollution that has adverse impacts on human health and the environment today is the result of anthropogenic activities. Road traffic has led to increase in many air pollutants to levels around the world. It is considered as one of an important source of particulate matter in Africa. Information on PM concentrations and impacts on human health in most African countries are poorly documented, lack of air monitoring network and insufficient number of air quality related researchers may be the reason for the lack of such studies. A few studies realized in African cities indicate an increasing number of exceedances of WHO guidelines for health related to road traffic. The transport sector has been expanding rapidly. Generally, car fleets are older and poorly maintained, high number of diesel-powered vehicles and all vehicles use lowquality fuels with high lead and Sulphur, which add to traffic-related air pollution. The objective of this overview aims at describing the atmospheric pollution recorded in many African cities and identifies the contribution of particulate matter from road traffic to the deterioration of the air quality in Africa.
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