PM2.5 stands for particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller. These particles are 30 times thinner than a human hair and come from car exhaust, power plants, wildfires, and burning fuel. They are small enough to bypass your body's natural defenses and enter your bloodstream.

How does air pollution affect the body?

Air pollution affects virtually every organ in the body. PM2.5 particles enter your lungs, pass into your bloodstream, and travel to your heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs. This causes chronic inflammation, increasing risks of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, dementia, and many other conditions.

How many people are affected by air pollution?

99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds WHO safety guidelines. Air pollution kills approximately 8 million people every year—more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Russia's Arkhangel'sk Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Arkhangel'sk

Arkhangel'sk faces significant air pollution challenges. 46% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 1.1 million across 28 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 4.5µg/m³. That's 0.9 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 75 cigarettes in a year.

Trends

Air Quality Trend

Annual PM2.5 levels from 2014 to 2023. The WHO guideline for safe air is 5 µg/m³.

Health Impact

Life Expectancy Impact

If Arkhangel'sk met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.02 years longer.

That's 21K years of life stolen from 1.1 million people. Years of watching children grow up. Years of building a career. Years of quiet mornings and celebrations.

Lives cut short. Breathing kills.

Most Polluted

Districts with Highest Pollution

The top 10 most polluted districts in Arkhangel'sk. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Koryazhma
0.1 years lost
2.Vilegodskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
3.Kotlasskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
4.Konoshskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
5.Lenskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
6.Kotlas
0.1 years lost
7.Vel'skiy rayon
0.1 years lost
8.Ust'yanskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
9.Krasnoborskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
10.Nyandomskiy rayon
0 years lost

Exposure

Population Exposure by Pollution Level

Distribution of population across different PM2.5 pollution levels. The WHO guideline is 5 µg/m³—only populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.

< 5 µg/m³

68.6%

724K

5-10 µg/m³

31.4%

332K

10-15 µg/m³

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 28 Districts in Arkhangel'sk

Complete air quality data for every district in Arkhangel'sk, sorted by population.

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³	Years Lost
Primorskiy rayon	439K	3.7	0.0 years
Arkhangel'sk	90K	4.0	0.0 years
Kotlasskiy rayon	89K	6.0	0.1 years
Plesetskiy rayon	71K	4.7	0.0 years
Vel'skiy rayon	49K	5.8	0.1 years
Nyandomskiy rayon	27K	5.5	0.0 years
Ust'yanskiy rayon	27K	5.7	0.1 years
Kholmogorskiy rayon	27K	4.0	0.0 years
Onezhskiy rayon	26K	3.8	0.0 years
Konoshskiy rayon	24K	5.9	0.1 years
Pinezhskiy rayon	24K	4.0	0.0 years
Koryazhma	21K	6.3	0.1 years
Kargopol'skiy rayon	17K	5.4	0.0 years
Vinogradovskiy rayon	16K	4.8	0.0 years
Verhnetoemskiy rayon	16K	5.1	0.0 years
Shenkurskiy rayon	14K	5.1	0.0 years
Kotlas	14K	5.8	0.1 years
Krasnoborskiy rayon	12K	5.6	0.1 years
Lenskiy rayon	12K	5.9	0.1 years
Vilegodskiy rayon	10K	6.0	0.1 years
Mezenskiy rayon	8K	2.9	0.0 years
Severodvinsk	8K	3.8	0.0 years
Leshukonskiy rayon	8K	3.7	0.0 years
Onega	6K	3.7	0.0 years
Solovetskiy rayon	797	2.4	0.0 years
Novodvinsk	40	4.0	0.0 years
Franz-Josef-Land	0	0.0	0.0 years
Novaya Zemlya	0	0.0	0.0 years

Showing 28 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Breathing in Arkhangel'sk is Injurious to Health.