Estonia Has Least Polluted Urban Air in the World27 September 2011
Levels of fine airborne particles in Estonia's urban areas are the lowest in the world, a comparative table published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 26 September reveals. The Indian Ocean island nation Mauritius ranked second while Canada landed in third place, according to the WHO data.
The report looked at two different particle sizes: those with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and those smaller than 10 micrometers (PM10).
In Estonia, PM2.5 was registered at 5.4 micrograms per cubic meter of air, while PM10 was at 11 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
The highest concentration of particles was registered in Mongolia, where PM2.5 peaked at 63 and PM10 at 279 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
According to WHO, each year over two million people around the world die due to the inhalation of fine particulate matter. The WHO ranking list contained results of urban outdoor air pollution monitoring from almost 1 100 cities with a population of at least 100 000. Air pollution in Estonia was measured only in Tallinn and the data dates back to 2008.
Estonian Public Broadcasting