Abstract:
Human and ecosystem health impacts imposed by water pollution are a major problem in the urban areas of
Sri Lanka. A primary source of pollutants to urban water sources is atmospheric particles. Hence, it is
important to develop a detailed understanding of atmospheric particle characteristics, their sources of origin
and the transport pathways. Several research studies have been conducted in Sri Lanka on atmospheric
pollution and these studies have tended to differ in their scope, study region and the investigated pollutants.
The objectives of this paper are: (1) to report the outcomes of a detailed state-of-art literature review of
atmospheric pollution related studies in Sri Lanka to understand the current trends and (2) to discuss the
future research activities necessary to generate the important knowledge required for the development of
effective strategies to control the adverse impacts of atmospheric pollution on urban waterways