| Mali is a developing country in West Africa. Currently there are various pollutants which are being released into the country's atmosphere due to a high rate of industrialization and an increasing quantity of inefficient vehicles in the country urban centers. This has contributed to the deterioration of the normal composition of the quality of the air this country and its surrounding. In this Thesis we tested the hypothesis that air masses around Bamako are carrying harmful gases, dust particles, living microorganisms, metals oxides and synthetic organic chemicals which are adversely affecting or shall affect human health and the City ecosystems in the near future.We examined some of the principal sources of pollution in the country capital Bamako. Namely: Thermal energy production at the individual level which include heating of the residences; at the industrial level which mainly causes an increase in production of water vapor and industrial exhaust gases also the use of fossil fuels (coal, heavy fuel, etc.). The industrial pollutants are being identified as the greatest contributors of pollutant emissions. One of the major reason why the industries are increasingly emitting pollutants is because of there requirements for thermal energy and lack of legal framework to regulate and treatment waste products. Pollution from the transport sector has been regarded for a long time as a problem of proximity, which is mainly perceived in Bamako city due to an increase in public vehicles and personal cars. Pollution from vehicles was identified as being caused by a large influx of old vehicles with incomplete engine combustion systems. This mainly caused the emissions of nitrogen, carbon, Sulphur, lead oxides and various hydrocarbons in the former clean air of the city. Pollution from agricultural activities has not been very significant in air pollution except in the unregulated use of chemicals in spraying crops. Other emissions are primarily ammonia, methane, the protoxide of nitrogen and the carbon monoxide which are mainly from the decomposition of the organic matter and the use of manure. Moreover, there is the pulverization of plant health products on a large scale which involves the setting of suspended particles in the air.This study found out that the fishing makes Mali one of the large fresh water fish producers in the area with annual production of up to 100,000 tons. This is one of the sources of air pollution due to the large waste output of the 500,000 workers in this industry. The production of gold metal made a remarkable increase in production by moving from 6,291 kg in 1995 to 44,584,517 kg into 2004. This went along with air industrial waste production. The tourist season of 2006-2007 recorded an increase of visitors of 37,000 to 150,000 giving a hint to the rapid development and interest into this country. In the transport sector, more than 80% of the public vehicles are more than 11 years old while out of these 70% are above 16 years old with faulty combustion engines. Sulphur dioxide which is a product of the oxidation of sulphur in petroleum oil, had increased due by 12.77% between 2004 and 2006. Nitrogenous gases also showed tremendous increase since 2005. The level of carbon oxides was incredibly increasing at alarming rate from 667μg/m3 in 2005 to 1107μg/m3 in 2006 this was an increase of 60.25%. There are heavy metal gases from machines or carried by sand storms dusts into Bamako city. These heavy metals include nickel and vanadium which are in the atmosphere at concentration of about 8 to 28μg/m3. The average concentration of benzo (A) pyrene in Bamako was about 4.59 ng/m3 compared to Paris which had 4.6 ng/m3 in winter was found to be not significant. Most trees and vegetation examined in Bamako did not show any significant air pollution effects. This was because it appeared soil nutrient depletion and pests, diseases, fungi, and drought seems to affect the plants more than air pollution. The damage due to air pollutants on various materials in Bamako city was found to be moderate fallout of soot and grit on buildings, cars, and clothing and necessitated little cost in cleaning. Only a few buildings had exterior paint affects and deteriorated roofing materials. It was not easy to get information of deaths directly caused by air pollution, but we could extrapolate from data in related diseases that there is a significant death level among city dwellers due to air pollution. In this thesis we also analyzed the Mali government's evaluation and the management of the quality of the ambient air in Bamako. This included the steps which have been put into place to monitor the effects of pollution the environment.In conclusion we propose that although the air pollution in Bamako is not significantly alarming at present but if plans to regulate and monitor pollution are not put in place now, we extrapolate that developing countries might also contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases which are causing climatic changes in the whole planet. Such effects have been identified to cause upheavals like rising of the sea level and oceans, potential increase in the cyclones and storms and global warming. All the pollutants in this study have been identified to have their toll in causing a direct impact on human health and have wide reaching implications in the national budgets of the developing countries in the long run. Hence national and international protocols are supposed to be implemented with all sincerity so that international policies can guarantee our future earthly survival.
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