Antananarivo - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
Horrible air quality from terrible traffic and seasonal burning of fields. - Jul 2020
Not terrible for a developing-country capital city. Wood burning and brick-making in the cold season may affect some people. Diesel fumes while sitting in traffic. - Mar 2017
Air quality can be really poor during Sept-October. Many fires in hills or with brick firing along the digues. Often inversions trap air in city. Rest of the year is not too bad. - Jun 2016
Depends; awful in traffic (taxis/buses belching black smoke) and during the burning/charcoal/brick season, when the city is bathed in haze. - Oct 2015
Generally I find the air quality to be moderate in Tana. The rain, breezes and high altitude help to keep the air reasonably clean, but many cars pump out a huge amount of exhaust, and it's not enjoyable to have to walk down a sidewalk alongside stalled traffic or have a toxic bus blow a black cloud your way as it labors up one of Tana's many hills. Definitely avoid walking through one of the city's two tunnels, which trap the exhaust. - Mar 2015
I would say it depends. In general the pollution is quite bad. Most of the U.S.Embassy housing is in the Ivandry neighborhood on the north end of Tana. This provides a bit of protection from the pollution compared to other parts of the city. In the city center the pollution is bad enough that you wouldn't want to drive with your windows down. But typically, around our home, we can have the windows open or enjoy being outside and (except for days when people are burning trash) the pollution isn't especially bothersome. - Apr 2013
Technically Tana is a very dirty city. However, I haven't had any respiratory problems. Sanitation is nearly non-existant, however, and public urination and defecation are common sites. - Apr 2010
