WHO 2016. All rights reserved.

v3

The information in this database is provided as a service to our users. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of th
Health Organization be liable for any damages arising from the use of the information linked to this section.
The data are not necessarily the official statistics of Member States, and figures have been compiled to ensure comparabil
accurate data. Please contact EBDassessment@who.int in view of updating the database.
Data source:

Metadata:
Indicator
Rationale

Method of Measurement

Method of estimation

WHO 2016. All rights reserved.

v3

Limitations

Comments

WHO Air Quality Guidelines

Conversions

ed.
10-May-16

atabase is provided as a service to our users. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the user. In no eve
able for any damages arising from the use of the information linked to this section.
arily the official statistics of Member States, and figures have been compiled to ensure comparability. Countries may have additional/ mo
ntact EBDassessment@who.int in view of updating the database.

Ambient Air Pollution Database, WHO, May 2016.

Primary source of data are official reporting from countries to WHO, official national/subnational reports and national/ subn
containing measurements of PM10 or PM2.5 and the relevant national agencies. Furthermore, measurements reported by
regional networks were used: Clean Air Asia for Asia, and the Air quality e-reporting database from the European Environm
Europe. In the absence of data from the previous sources, data from (a) UN Agencies, (b) Development agencies and (c) a
reviewed journals and(d) ground measurements compiled in the framework of the Global Burden of Disease project were

Annual mean concentration of particulate matter of less than 10 microns of diameter (PM10) [ug/m3] and of less than 2.5 m
cities and localities.
Air pollution consists of many pollutants, among other particulate matter. These particles are able to penetrate deeply into t
and therefore constitute a risk for health by increasing mortality from respiratory infections and diseases, lung cancer, and
cardiovascular diseases.

The mean annual concentration of fine suspended particles of less than 10 or 2.5 microns in diameters is a common meas
The mean city concentration is based on daily measurements, or data which could be aggregated into annual means. In th
annual means, measurements covering a more limited period of the year were exceptionally used.

Annual means are reported as provided in the primary sources, or an average of the cities' monitoring stations were used.
air quality that is largely representative for human exposure, urban measurement characterized as urban background, resid
commercial and mixed areas were used. Stations characterized as particular "hot spots" or exclusively industrial areas wer
unless they were contained in reported city means and could not be dissociated. This selection is in line with the aim of ca
representative values for human exposure. The location of hot spots, often measured for the purpose of capturing the citie
and industrial areas, were deemed less likely to be representative for the mean exposure of a significant part of a city's pop
were either designated as such by the original reports, or were qualified as such due to their exceptional nature (e.g. excep
etc.). Omitting them may have lead to an underestimation of the mean air pollution levels of a city.

ed.
10-May-16

Where the data from various sources were available for a city, only the latest data and most reliable sources were used. O
since the year 2008 were included in the database. The great majority of data are more recent than 2013.
For completeness, cities with only PM10 (or resp. PM2.5) reported, PM2.5 (or PM10) concentration was calculated from PM
using national conversion factors (PM2.5/PM10 ratio) either provided by the country or estimated as population-weighted a
specific conversion factors for the country. City-specific conversion factors were estimated as the mean ratio of PM2.5 to P
the same year. If national conversion factors were not available, regional ones were used, which were obtained by averagin
conversion factors.
As the conversion factor PM2.5/PM10 may vary according to location, the converted PM10 value for individual cities may d
actual value (generally between 0.4 and 0.8), and should be considered as approximate only.

The temporal coverage represents the number of days per year covered by measurements, or any alternative qualification
original sources. If data from several monitoring stations in one city were available, their average temporal coverage was u
average.

Ideally, the monitoring data used to calculate the average annual PM concentrations should be collected throughout the ye
years, to reduce bias owing to seasonal fluctuations or to a non-representative year.
Care should be taken that the monitors used are not unduly influenced by a single source of pollution (i.e. a power plant, fa
rather, the monitors should reflect exposures over a wide area.
Although it is likely that PM data will be available only for larger cities, residents of agglomerations of less than 100'000 inh
areas are also exposed to PM from local industrial activity, transportation, biomass fuels, open burning and regional haze.

Data from different countries are of limited comparability because of

(a) Different location of measurement stations;
(b) Different measurement methods;
(c) Different temporal coverage of certain measurements; if only part of the year was covered, the measurement may signi
the annual mean due to seasonal variationsbility;
(d) Possible inclusion of data which were not eligible for this database due to insufficient information to ensure compliance;
(e) Heterogeneous quality of measurements;
(f) Omission of data which are known to exist, but which could not yet be accessed due to language issues or limited acces

For more information, please consult the pages http://www.who.int/topics/air_pollution/en/ and

http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/cities/en/, and more specifically the related file on the methods
http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/AAP_database_methods_2016.pdf.
The WHO guideline values for particulate matter are 20 g/m3 for PM10, and 10 g/m3 for PM2.5, respectively. Additional
interim targets are also provided in the guidelines: http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/outdoorair_aqg/en/

Data in columns F and J in worksheet "database" are measured, unless they are shaded in grey, in which case they were c
or PM10, respectively. Please note that converted values are indicative only and are to be taken with care, as conversion fa
approximative.

City/Town means
PM10
Region
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear

Country
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India

City/Town
Agra
Bangalore
Bhopal
Chennai
Delhi
Jaipur
Jammu
Kolkata
Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Noida
Patna
Varanasi

PM10
196
118
173
57
229
187
119
135
117
120
136
167
138

Number and type of monitoring

Year
stations (PM10)
2012 6 stations, NA
2012 7 stations, NA
2012 3 stations, NA
2012 6 stations, NA
2012.25 12 stations
2012 6 stations, NA
2012 3 stations, NA
2012 9 stations, NA
2012 3 stations, NA
2012 6 stations, NA
2012 2 stations, NA
2012 2 stations, 2 stations, residential and
2012 2 stations, NA

City/Town means
PM2.5
Region
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear

Country
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India

City/Town
Agra
Bangalore
Bhopal
Chennai
Delhi
Jaipur
Jammu
Kolkata
Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Noida
Patna
Varanasi

note on converted
PM10
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data
measured data

PM2.5
105
63
93
44
122
100
64
61
63
64
73
149
74

Year
2012
2012
2012
2014
2013.20
2012
2012
2014
2013
2012
2012
2013
2012

City/Town means

Region
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear

Country
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India

City/Town
Agra
Bangalore
Bhopal
Chennai
Delhi
Jaipur
Jammu
Kolkata
Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Noida
Patna
Varanasi

Number and type of

monitoring stations
(PM2.5)

note on converted
PM2.5
converted from PM10
converted from PM10
converted from PM10
1 station, NA
measured data
10 stations, residential and measured data
converted from PM10
converted from PM10
1 station, NA
measured data
2 stations
measured data
converted from PM10
converted from PM10
1 station, 2 stations, residen measured data
converted from PM10

City/Town means

Region
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear

Country
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India

City/Town
Agra
Bangalore
Bhopal
Chennai
Delhi
Jaipur
Jammu
Kolkata
Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Noida
Patna
Varanasi

PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:
PM10:

Temporal coverage
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5:NA
>75%; PM2.5:NA
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5:NA
>75%; PM2.5: >75%
<75%; PM2.5:<75%
>75%; PM2.5:NA
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5:NA
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5: :<75%
>75%; PM2.5:NA
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5:NA
>75%; PM2.5:NA
>75%; PM2.5:NA
<75 % but annually representative; PM2.5:NA

City/Town means
Reference

Region
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear
Sear

Country
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India
India

City/Town
Agra
Bangalore
Bhopal
Chennai
Delhi
Jaipur
Jammu
Kolkata
Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Noida
Patna
Varanasi

for air quality

Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India

Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India; U.S. Department of State, Mission A
Central Pollution Control Board India, Environmental Data Bank; Atmospheric Resea
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India; U.S. Department of State, Mission A
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India; U.S. Department of State, Mission A
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India
Central Pollution Control Board India, Environmental Data Bank
Open Government Data (OGD) Plateform India

City/Town
Delhi
Agra

Patna

Kolkata
Navi Mumbai

Mumbai
Chennai

PM10
229
196

City/Town
Patna
Delhi
Agra

PM2.5
149
122
105

167

135
120

117
57

Varanasi

74

Navi Mumbai

64

Mumbai
Kolkata
Chennai

63
61
44

City/Town
Delhi
Agra
Patna
Kolkata
Navi Mumbai
Mumbai
Chennai

PM 10
City/Town
229 Patna
196 Delhi
167 Agra
135 Navi Mumbai
120 Mumbai
117 Kolkata
57 Chennai

PM 2.5
149
122
105
64
63
61
44

PM 2.5
200

149

150

122

105

100

64

63

50
0
Patna

Delhi

Agra

Navi Mumbai Mumbai

PM 10
250

229

200

196

167

150

135

120

100
50
0
Delhi

Agra

Patna

Kolkata Navi Mum

PM 2.5
105
64

Agra

63

Navi Mumbai Mumbai

61

Kolkata

44

Chennai

PM 10
167

135

120

117
57

Patna

Kolkata Navi Mumbai Mumbai

Chennai