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 Sverdlovsk Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Sverdlovsk

Sverdlovsk faces significant air pollution challenges. 98% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 4.2 million across 59 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 9.8µg/m³. That's 2.0 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 163 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 Sverdlovsk met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0.46 years longer.

That's 1.9M years of life stolen from 4.2 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 Sverdlovsk. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Asbest gorsovet
0.7 years lost
2.Artemovskiy rayon
0.7 years lost
3.NA (2)
0.7 years lost
4.Kamyshlov
0.6 years lost
5.Kamyshlovskiy rayon
0.6 years lost
6.Rezh
0.6 years lost
7.Alapaevsk gorsovet
0.6 years lost
8.Alapaevskiy rayon
0.6 years lost
9.Sukhoy Log
0.6 years lost
10.Rezhevskiy rayon
0.6 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

46.8%

2.0M

10-15 µg/m³

53.2%

2.2M

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 59 Districts in Sverdlovsk

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

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³	Years Lost
Ekaterinburg gorsovet	1.4M	10.2	0.5 years
Nizhniy Tagil gorod	366K	9.7	0.5 years
Kamensk-Ural'sk	182K	10.2	0.5 years
Pervoural'sk gorsovet	128K	9.1	0.4 years
Nev'yanskiy rayon	126K	9.4	0.4 years
Revda gorsovet	109K	9.2	0.4 years
Serov gorsovet	108K	8.2	0.3 years
Sysertskiy rayon	98K	9.6	0.4 years
Asbest gorsovet	93K	12.0	0.7 years
Verkhnyaya Pyshma gorsovet	84K	9.5	0.4 years
Nizhniy Tura gorsovet	80K	8.3	0.3 years
Polevskoy gorsovet	68K	9.5	0.4 years
Krasnoufimskiy rayon	68K	8.2	0.3 years
Irbitskiy rayon	66K	10.7	0.6 years
Verkhnesaldinskiy rayon	65K	9.7	0.5 years
Beloyarskiy rayon	61K	10.0	0.5 years
Artemovskiy rayon	59K	11.7	0.7 years
Krasnotur'insk gorsovet	56K	7.8	0.3 years
Nizhneserginskiy rayon	55K	8.7	0.4 years
Prigorodnyy rayon	50K	9.5	0.4 years
Berezovskiy gorsovet	49K	10.1	0.5 years
Kushva gorsovet	49K	8.8	0.4 years
Rezhevskiy rayon	47K	10.8	0.6 years
Sukholozhskiy rayon	47K	10.8	0.6 years
Kamyshlovskiy rayon	46K	11.0	0.6 years
Talitskiy rayon	46K	10.3	0.5 years
Bogdanovichskiy rayon	45K	10.4	0.5 years
Kachkanar gorsovet	43K	8.4	0.3 years
Karpinsk gorsovet	43K	7.5	0.2 years
Severoural'sk gorsovet	42K	7.0	0.2 years
Alapaevsk gorsovet	42K	11.0	0.6 years
Tavdinskiy rayon	41K	9.7	0.5 years
Kirovgrad gorsovet	39K	9.4	0.4 years
Artinskiy rayon	29K	8.3	0.3 years
Ivdel' gorsovet	29K	6.6	0.2 years
Turinskiy rayon	28K	10.2	0.5 years
Krasnoural'sk gorsovet	25K	9.0	0.4 years
Alapaevskiy rayon	25K	10.9	0.6 years
Tugulymskiy rayon	24K	10.0	0.5 years
Shalinskiy rayon	24K	8.4	0.3 years
Novolyalinskiy rayon	23K	8.6	0.4 years
Serovskiy rayon	22K	8.5	0.3 years
Pyshminskiy rayon	21K	10.4	0.5 years
Kamenskiy rayon	18K	9.9	0.5 years
Slobodo-Turinskiy rayon	16K	9.7	0.5 years
Achitskiy rayon	15K	8.2	0.3 years
Baykalovskiy rayon	15K	9.6	0.4 years
Verkhoturskiy rayon	10K	9.4	0.4 years
Kamyshlov	7K	11.0	0.6 years
Garinskiy rayon	5K	8.8	0.4 years
Taborinskiy rayon	4K	9.3	0.4 years
Zarechnyy	3K	10.2	0.5 years
Nev'yansk	2K	9.6	0.5 years
NA (2)	957	11.6	0.7 years
Sukhoy Log	828	10.9	0.6 years
Rezh	276	11.0	0.6 years
Irbit	134	10.3	0.5 years
Verkhnyaya Salda	111	9.8	0.5 years
Tavda	0	0.0	0.0 years

Showing 59 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Breathing in Sverdlovsk is Injurious to Health.