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 Kaluga Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Kaluga

Kaluga faces significant air pollution challenges. 100% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 985 thousand across 28 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 10.1µg/m³. That's 2.0 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 168 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 Kaluga met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.5 years longer.

That's 493K years of life stolen from 985 thousand 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 Kaluga. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Ferzikovskiy rayon
0.5 years lost
2.Kozel'skiy rayon
0.5 years lost
3.Kaluga gorsovet
0.5 years lost
4.Peremyshl'skiy rayon
0.5 years lost
5.Duminichskiy rayon
0.5 years lost
6.Sukhinichskiy rayon
0.5 years lost
7.Lyudinov
0.5 years lost
8.Tarusskiy rayon
0.5 years lost
9.Zhukovskiy rayon
0.5 years lost
10.Lyudinovskiy rayon
0.5 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

5-10 µg/m³

20.7%

204K

10-15 µg/m³

79.3%

781K

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 28 Districts in Kaluga

Complete air quality data for every district in Kaluga, sorted by population.

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³	Years Lost
Kaluga gorsovet	302K	10.3	0.5 years
Borovskiy rayon	173K	10.0	0.5 years
Dzerzhinskiy rayon	96K	10.0	0.5 years
Maloyaroslavetskiy rayon	56K	9.9	0.5 years
Kozel'skiy rayon	41K	10.3	0.5 years
Kirovskiy rayon	39K	9.8	0.5 years
Zhukovskiy rayon	33K	10.1	0.5 years
Sukhinichskiy rayon	25K	10.2	0.5 years
Lyudinovskiy rayon	25K	10.1	0.5 years
Lyudinov	20K	10.2	0.5 years
Babyninskiy rayon	15K	9.8	0.5 years
Yukhnovskiy rayon	14K	9.6	0.5 years
Tarusskiy rayon	14K	10.2	0.5 years
Duminichskiy rayon	13K	10.2	0.5 years
Medynskiy rayon	12K	9.4	0.4 years
Meshchovskiy rayon	12K	9.8	0.5 years
Peremyshl'skiy rayon	12K	10.2	0.5 years
Zhizdrinskiy rayon	10K	10.0	0.5 years
Khvastovichskiy rayon	10K	10.0	0.5 years
Ferzikovskiy rayon	9K	10.3	0.5 years
Mosal'skiy rayon	9K	9.5	0.4 years
Iznoskovskiy rayon	9K	9.3	0.4 years
Spas-Demenskiy rayon	8K	9.5	0.4 years
Ul'yanovskiy rayon	8K	10.0	0.5 years
Kuybyshevskiy rayon	7K	9.7	0.5 years
Baryatinskiy rayon	7K	9.7	0.5 years
Obninsk	5K	9.9	0.5 years
Kirov	736	9.8	0.5 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 Kaluga is Injurious to Health.