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 Leningrad Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Leningrad

Leningrad faces significant air pollution challenges. 86% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 1.8 million across 35 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 6.5µg/m³. That's 1.3 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 108 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 Leningrad met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.14 years longer.

That's 257K years of life stolen from 1.8 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 Leningrad. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Boksitogorskiy rayon
0.2 years lost
2.Kirishi
0.2 years lost
3.Pikalyovo
0.2 years lost
4.Kirishskiy rayon
0.2 years lost
5.Luzhskiy rayon
0.2 years lost
6.Tikhvin
0.2 years lost
7.Gatchina
0.2 years lost
8.Tikhvinskiy rayon
0.2 years lost
9.Gatchinskiy rayon
0.2 years lost
10.Tosno
0.2 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

100%

1.8M

10-15 µg/m³

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 35 Districts in Leningrad

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

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³	Years Lost
Vsevolzhskiy rayon	367K	6.5	0.1 years
Gatchinskiy rayon	225K	6.8	0.2 years
Vyborgskiy rayon	181K	6.2	0.1 years
Lomonosovskiy rayon	118K	6.5	0.1 years
Tosnenskiy rayon	116K	6.6	0.2 years
Kirovskiy rayon	110K	6.3	0.1 years
Volkhovskiy rayon	105K	6.2	0.1 years
Kingiseppskiy rayon	83K	6.1	0.1 years
Priozerskiy rayon	80K	6.0	0.1 years
Luzhskiy rayon	75K	7.1	0.2 years
Tikhvinskiy rayon	74K	6.9	0.2 years
Kirishskiy rayon	66K	7.1	0.2 years
Slantsevskiy rayon	59K	6.3	0.1 years
Boksitogorskiy rayon	56K	7.3	0.2 years
Volosovskiy rayon	47K	6.6	0.2 years
Podporozhskiy rayon	33K	5.8	0.1 years
Lodeynopol'skiy rayon	32K	5.8	0.1 years
Vyborg	2K	6.3	0.1 years
Vsevolzhsk	1K	6.2	0.1 years
Kirovsk	857	6.2	0.1 years
Slantsy	682	6.4	0.1 years
Sosnovyy Bor	442	6.3	0.1 years
Gatchina	383	6.9	0.2 years
Tikhvin	194	7.0	0.2 years
Volkhov	155	6.3	0.1 years
Tosno	139	6.7	0.2 years
Kirishi	132	7.3	0.2 years
Lodeynopoe Pole	28	5.6	0.1 years
Pikalyovo	27	7.2	0.2 years
Priozersk	3	5.9	0.1 years
Boksitogorsk	0	0.0	0.0 years
Ivangorod	0	0.0	0.0 years
Kingisepp	0	0.0	0.0 years
Luga	0	0.0	0.0 years
Podporozh'e	0	0.0	0.0 years

Showing 35 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Breathing in Leningrad is Injurious to Health.