In some cities around the world, just breathing the air can be hazardous to your health. Here is a list of the most air polluted cities to know about – and possibly avoid if you value inhaling. Most international cities that monitor air quality experience pollution levels that are deemed unsafe by the World Health Organization. The WHO says that air pollution is getting worse in many cities around the globe, especially in industrializing countries in the Middle East and Asia. They define air pollution as airborne particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10). The standard level of PM10 is 60, just to give you an idea of how alarmingly polluted some of these listed cities really are. The values shown for each city are the annual averages of pollution in micrograms per cubic meter of air.
19. Beijing, China
Score: 121
China’s capital city has been experiencing high levels of air pollution for years. Smog often blankets the city and it was so bad in 2013 that the government had to take emergency measures and citizens were advised to stay inside. The main contributors to the city’s poor air quality are exhaust emissions from the city’s five million motor vehicles, burning coal in neighboring regions and the significant storms of dust generated from local construction sites and the north.
18. Jinan, China
Score: 132
Jinan is the capital and most polluted city in the Shandong province in Eastern China. The city, which has a population of nearly 7 million people, is home to many iron, steelworks and chemical factories. The emissions from these plants as well as the poor quality of fuel used in the transportation sector contributes to the high levels of air pollution in the city.
17. Mumbai, India
Score: 136
Almost half of this city’s population is at risk of suffering from serious long-term health problems do the high pollution levels in the air. Air pollution in the city has risen significantly over the past few years. Contributing factors to pollution include growing reliance on fossil fuels such as coal-fired power plants, motor vehicles, inefficient use of energy and use of biomass for cooking and heating.
16. Urumqi, China
Score: 140
Urumqi ranks as the third most air polluted city in China. The rapid pace of industrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in car ownership and disregard to environmental laws have only negatively contributed to the city’s air quality. Urumqi’s air pollution typically gets worse in the winter because of heating needs. Most of the city’s heating boilers still use coal, which release dirty fumes and dust.
15. Xining, China
Score: 141
Xining is the capital of Qinghai province in western China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. Xining has 2,208,708 residents with over half living in the urban areas. According the WHO, Xining has the second worst air quality in China. This is due to the city’s economy, which is based heavily on chemical and salt lake resources, nonferrous metals, and petroleum and natural gas processing.
14. Lanzhou, China
Score: 150
Lanzhou, located in the northwestern region of China, is the most polluted city in the country. Many factors contribute to Lanzhou’s very poor air quality. Firstly, the city is located in a narrow and curved river valley with surrounding mountains, which limits the free flow of air. Air quality is so poor at times that you can’t see Lanshan mountain, which rises up on the southern tip of the city. The high levels of air pollution in Lanzhou is also due to the city’s numerous factories, which are involved in petroleum processing. Lanzhou also suffers from dust storms from the Gobi Desert, especially in the winter and spring seasons.
13. Indore, India
Score: 174
Indore, the largest city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, is home to nearly 2 million residents. The air pollution in Indore is worsening every year because of the growing transport sector, a booming construction industry, and a thriving industrial sector. Indoreans can also blame the increasing population and traffic in the city for high levels of air pollution.
12. Lucknow, India
Score: 186
Air pollution is the fifth largest killer in India, but little is being done to save Indian citizens. Lucknow, the eight most populous city in the country, faces extremely poor ambient air quality in most part of the city, not only in industrial areas, but even in residential zones. Masks are worn almost daily by residents, but the government needs to do more to protect its people from the very air they breath.
11. Delhi, India
Score: 198
Delhi, also known as the National Capital Territory of India, has population of about 25 million as of 2014. Delhi is the largest urban agglomeration in India by land area and population and the fourth most populous city in the world. Shockingly, air pollution kills nearly 10,500 people in Delhi every year. Delhi’s extremely poor air quality is due to high vehicular and industrial emissions, construction work and crop burning in adjoining states.
10. Kanpur, India
Score: 209
Kanpur is the third largest industrial city of the Hindi belt in North India and 11th largest city in the country. Kanpur is one of North India’s main commercial and industrial centers. It is known as “Leather City” because it houses over 350 of the largest tanneries in the world. These tanneries are known for pumping out harmful fumes and releasing untreated waste into the Ganges River. Kanpur is ranked as the second worst in the country for air quality.
9. Yasuj, Iran
Score: 215
Yasuj is an industrial city in the Zagros Mountains of southwestern Iran with a population of approximately 100,000. Yasuj is home to a coal-burning power plant and a sugar processing plant which both release a significant amount of emissions into the air resulting in extensive air pollution. A new refinery was recently constructed in the city to produce petrol, gasoil, kerosene, furnace oil, liquefied gas, asphalt and sulfur. This will only add to Yasuj’s extremely poor quality and threaten the lives of Iranians in that region.
8. Gaborone, Botswana
Score: 216
Located in southern Africa, Gaborone is the capital and largest city of Botswana. The city boasts a population of nearly 232,000. Gaborone has been labelled the most polluted city on the African continent due in part to the paint factory, brewery and chemical plant that operate within the city limits. The paint factory and chemical plant are thought to be the major contributors of lead poisoning in the region. Wastewater, including employees’ sanitary waste, process wastes, and water from heating and air units are released into the environment through the public sewer lines, only worsening the quality of air.
7. Peshawar, Pakistan
Score: 219
Peshawar is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse areas in Pakistan, but the city’s level of air pollution is a major concern for all residents. The main sources of Peshawar’s extremely poor air quality levels are industrial emissions, fumes from the brick kiln factories, extensive burning of solid waste, and vehicular emissions. Nearly 40% of the solid waste produced in the city remains on the streets, releasing pollutants into the air that are extremely unhealthy to breathe.
6. Kermanshah, Iran
Score: 229
The city of Kermanshah, located in northwestern Iran, is home to nearly 852,000 residents. Unfortunately, the air pollution is so bad in this Iranian city that locals are advised to remain indoors as often as they can. Dust storms, along with the emissions released from 256 manufacturing units in the city, including sugar refineries, petrochemicals and electrical equipment factories are the major contributors to the high levels of air pollution in the city.
5. Quetta, Pakistan
Score: 251
Quetta is the most air polluted city in Pakistan because of the unregulated emissions from factories, overcrowding and overpopulation, the poor quality of fuel utilized in vehicles, and the burning of waste materials which release hazardous gases into the air. Air pollution levels have risen so high that at times they are considered fatal. Definitely one of the more toxic air polluted cities to know about.
5. Ludhiana, India
Score: 251
Ludhiana is the largest city north of New Delhi with an estimated population of 3,487,882. Although the air pollution levels are some of the highest in the world in this Indian city, nothing is being done to improve the situation. Nearly 70% of the city’s air pollution is caused by automobiles operating in bad condition and running on low quality fuel.
3. Sanandaj, Iran
Score: 254
Sananadaj is a small city located in the northwest corner of Iran near the Iraqi border. The city, which is home to nearly 375,000 people, houses industrial factories for metalwork, cotton, woodwork and carpet production. The emissions released from these low quality power plants, sub-standard transportation fuels, along with the dust blown into the valley from Iraq, all contribute to the very poor air quality that Sanandaj experiences.
2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Score: 279
According to the World Health Organization, Mongolia’s capital city has some of the most “harmful dust” in the world. This hazardous air pollution is caused by open soil surfaces, unpaved roads, dust from the desert, lack of vegetation and ash and emissions from power plants, vehicles, and boilers. Children in Ulaanbaatar are regularly becoming sick from unknown illnesses due to the high levels of pollution. The air quality is so poor that the World Bank has stepped in and implemented the Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Project to help replace stoves and boilers with more environmentally efficient models.
1. Ahwaz, Iran
Score: 372
Ahwaz has the dishonor of being the most air polluted city in the world. Respiratory illnesses, especially lung cancer, are at an all-time high in this southern Iranian city that’s home to nearly 1.5 million residents. The local government blames the US troops for the poor quality, saying it’s a result of dust left from uranium bombs dropped during the Iraq War. Other factors that contribute to Ahwaz’s extremely high levels of air pollution are the emission from plants to manufacture paper, sugar, oil, petrochemicals, oil and metals. Both plants and animals are suffering as well. Many birds are facing extinction as ecosystems have been interrupted, rivers have been diverted and marshes have been drained.