Measures to mitigate the negative effects of pollution may focus on separating pollution sources and receptors, reducing the polluting activities, reducing its pollution characteristics, and controlling emissions with filtering devices. However, Not all of these alternatives are available for all pollutants.

Changing the location of the pollution source may be an effective strategy for universally mixed pollutants with only localized health effects, such as particulates. Urban planning, zoning, and other land use regulations can influence urban air quality through micro level decisions. However, these measures are not effective for persistent pollutants such as heavy metals and for pollutants with significant regional and global impacts such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Opportunities for applying alternative methods of emissions reduction also vary across pollution sources .

The impact of emissions from large stationary sources can be reduced by choosing a location away from populated areas; using clean fuels such as gas and low-sulfur or low-ash coal; applying cleaner technologies such as fluidized-bed combustion and low-NOx burners; improving maintenance and housekeeping; and installing proper end-of-pipe control technologies such as electrostatic precipitators and bughouses.

The impacts of traffic-related emissions may be mitigated by diverting traffic away from heavily populated areas. For example, by building roadways around cities or restricting downtown traffic, converting high-use vehicles to cleaner fuels (for example, converting buses to natural gas); improving vehicle maintenance; increasing the share of less polluting traffic modes; using more fuel-efficient vehicles; and installing catalytic control devices.