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 Sakhalin Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Sakhalin

Sakhalin faces significant air pollution challenges. 68% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 468 thousand across 22 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 5.3µg/m³. That's 1.1 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 88 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 Sakhalin met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.02 years longer.

That's 9K years of life stolen from 468 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 Sakhalin. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
2.Tomarinskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
3.Uglegorskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
4.Kholmskiy rayon
0.1 years lost
5.Tymovskiy rayon
0 years lost
6.Uglegorsk
0 years lost
7.Kholmsk
0 years lost
8.Korsakovskiy rayon
0 years lost
9.Anivskiy rayon
0 years lost
10.Korsakov
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

12.1%

57K

5-10 µg/m³

87.9%

411K

10-15 µg/m³

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 22 Districts in Sakhalin

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

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³	Years Lost
Anivskiy rayon	202K	5.3	0.0 years
Kholmskiy rayon	36K	5.6	0.1 years
Korsakovskiy rayon	36K	5.3	0.0 years
Okhinskiy rayon	25K	5.1	0.0 years
Dolinskiy rayon	24K	5.2	0.0 years
Poronayskiy rayon	22K	5.1	0.0 years
Uglegorskiy rayon	21K	5.7	0.1 years
Kuril'skiy rayon	16K	4.8	0.0 years
Nevel'skiy rayon	16K	4.9	0.0 years
Tymovskiy rayon	16K	5.5	0.0 years
Smirnykhovskiy rayon	14K	5.0	0.0 years
Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinskiy rayon	13K	5.9	0.1 years
Noglikskiy rayon	11K	4.9	0.0 years
Tomarinskiy rayon	8K	5.8	0.1 years
Makarovskiy rayon	7K	5.2	0.0 years
Kholmsk	1K	5.3	0.0 years
Dolinsk	114	5.1	0.0 years
Korsakov	99	5.2	0.0 years
Uglegorsk	5	5.4	0.0 years
Nevel'sk	0	0.0	0.0 years
Okha	0	0.0	0.0 years
Poronaysk	0	0.0	0.0 years

Showing 22 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Breathing in Sakhalin is Injurious to Health.