We measure exposure to ground-level volatile organic compounds using a country’s ambient ground-level concentration. The pollutant concentration is population-weighted to better capture the exposure levels in geographic areas with a higher human population density. We estimate volatile organic compounds as the summed concentration of ethane, propane, formaldehyde, and isoprene. A score of 100 indicates a country has among the lowest exposure in the world (≤5th-percentile), while a score of 0 indicates a country is among the highest (≥99th-percentile). Data for this indicator come from the Copernicus database and from Wolf et al., 2021.
VOC exposure
| Country | Rank | EPI Score | 10-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micronesia | 1 | 100.00 | 1.10 |
| Kiribati | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Mauritius | 1 | 100.00 | 3.20 |
| Marshall Islands | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Seychelles | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Tonga | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Samoa | 1 | 100.00 | NA |
| Barbados | 8 | 96.90 | 0.70 |
| Cabo Verde | 9 | 96.20 | 0.70 |
| Iceland | 10 | 95.60 | 3.30 |
| Maldives | 11 | 92.80 | -1.10 |
| Grenada | 12 | 91.60 | -1.10 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 13 | 91.40 | 5.60 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 14 | 90.90 | 1.10 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 15 | 88.30 | 0.70 |
| Comoros | 16 | 87.50 | 2.40 |
| Saint Lucia | 17 | 87.40 | 2.90 |
| Bahamas | 18 | 86.20 | 6.40 |
| Ireland | 19 | 84.70 | 2.30 |
| Malta | 20 | 83.60 | 3.90 |
| Dominica | 21 | 82.20 | 2.90 |
| Denmark | 22 | 81.20 | 4.60 |
| Finland | 23 | 77.60 | 5.60 |
| Sweden | 23 | 77.60 | 4.90 |
| Estonia | 25 | 72.00 | 4.70 |
| United Kingdom | 26 | 71.50 | 5.50 |
| Lithuania | 27 | 71.40 | 2.60 |
| Vanuatu | 28 | 71.20 | 6.90 |
| Netherlands | 29 | 70.00 | 6.70 |
| Latvia | 30 | 69.10 | 5.70 |
| Belgium | 31 | 67.00 | 5.40 |
| Belarus | 32 | 65.50 | -0.20 |
| Poland | 33 | 64.20 | 3.60 |
| Ukraine | 34 | 63.40 | 0.90 |
| Moldova | 35 | 62.60 | -1.60 |
| Germany | 36 | 59.60 | 3.70 |
| Luxembourg | 37 | 58.00 | 1.70 |
| Canada | 38 | 57.90 | -1.40 |
| Norway | 38 | 57.90 | 2.20 |
| France | 40 | 57.10 | 4.30 |
| Russia | 41 | 57.00 | -3.30 |
| Djibouti | 42 | 56.80 | -0.60 |
| Mongolia | 43 | 56.10 | 2.50 |
| Czech Republic | 44 | 54.40 | 2.40 |
| New Zealand | 45 | 54.30 | 1.90 |
| Kazakhstan | 46 | 53.30 | -3.20 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 47 | 53.20 | 0.60 |
| Austria | 48 | 50.30 | 1.60 |
| Fiji | 49 | 50.00 | -2.80 |
| Portugal | 50 | 49.10 | 0.10 |
| Hungary | 51 | 48.80 | 1.70 |
| Switzerland | 52 | 48.70 | 3.30 |
| Romania | 53 | 48.40 | -0.70 |
| Turkmenistan | 54 | 47.60 | -3.20 |
| Slovakia | 55 | 47.00 | 2.50 |
| Albania | 56 | 46.90 | -3.60 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 57 | 46.00 | -4.80 |
| Tunisia | 58 | 45.70 | 2.10 |
| Greece | 59 | 45.60 | -3.90 |
| Spain | 60 | 45.50 | 1.90 |
| Lebanon | 61 | 45.00 | 4.30 |
| Jamaica | 62 | 44.10 | -0.60 |
| Italy | 63 | 43.80 | -0.40 |
| Japan | 64 | 43.50 | -2.10 |
| Armenia | 65 | 43.10 | -7.20 |
| Azerbaijan | 66 | 42.70 | 1.20 |
| Saudi Arabia | 67 | 42.50 | 0.30 |
| Cuba | 68 | 42.30 | -2.50 |
| Montenegro | 69 | 41.70 | -2.20 |
| Israel | 70 | 41.00 | 0.80 |
| Bulgaria | 71 | 40.90 | -2.30 |
| Cyprus | 71 | 40.90 | 3.20 |
| Turkey | 73 | 40.10 | -2.10 |
| Uzbekistan | 74 | 39.50 | -2.50 |
| Egypt | 75 | 39.00 | -1.40 |
| North Macedonia | 76 | 38.50 | -2.50 |
| Serbia | 76 | 38.50 | -0.40 |
| Afghanistan | 78 | 37.50 | -1.60 |
| Oman | 79 | 37.10 | -0.10 |
| Slovenia | 79 | 37.10 | -0.70 |
| Georgia | 81 | 36.70 | -7.20 |
| Uruguay | 82 | 36.40 | -5.20 |
| Taiwan | 82 | 36.40 | 0.70 |
| Jordan | 84 | 36.30 | 0.80 |
| Morocco | 85 | 35.50 | -1.00 |
| Solomon Islands | 85 | 35.50 | 0.60 |
| Croatia | 87 | 35.40 | -0.80 |
| United States of America | 88 | 34.80 | -6.10 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 89 | 34.10 | -1.10 |
| Tajikistan | 89 | 34.10 | -2.50 |
| Panama | 91 | 32.60 | -2.60 |
| Senegal | 91 | 32.60 | -1.30 |
| Haiti | 93 | 32.40 | -1.30 |
| Gambia | 94 | 31.70 | NA |
| Mauritania | 94 | 31.70 | -1.90 |
| Singapore | 96 | 31.10 | 2.60 |
| Algeria | 97 | 30.70 | 1.00 |
| Dominican Republic | 98 | 29.60 | -3.30 |
| Chile | 99 | 28.20 | -3.00 |
| China | 100 | 27.80 | -1.30 |
| Bahrain | 101 | 25.90 | -3.40 |
| Niger | 102 | 24.20 | -5.40 |
| Lesotho | 103 | 24.00 | -3.30 |
| Sri Lanka | 104 | 23.20 | -4.40 |
| Iraq | 105 | 22.90 | -4.20 |
| Sudan | 105 | 22.90 | -3.50 |
| Eritrea | 107 | 22.40 | -0.80 |
| Costa Rica | 108 | 22.30 | -2.60 |
| Iran | 109 | 22.00 | -4.20 |
| Suriname | 109 | 22.00 | -4.00 |
| Togo | 111 | 21.90 | -6.20 |
| Benin | 112 | 21.30 | -8.00 |
| Belize | 113 | 21.20 | -1.80 |
| Guyana | 113 | 21.20 | -5.40 |
| Timor-Leste | 115 | 20.50 | 3.00 |
| Philippines | 116 | 20.20 | -1.90 |
| South Korea | 117 | 19.90 | -0.90 |
| Qatar | 117 | 19.90 | -3.30 |
| India | 119 | 19.40 | -2.10 |
| South Africa | 119 | 19.40 | -6.80 |
| Burundi | 121 | 19.30 | -4.30 |
| Ghana | 122 | 18.90 | -8.20 |
| Tanzania | 122 | 18.90 | -4.70 |
| Pakistan | 124 | 18.70 | -1.80 |
| Australia | 125 | 18.50 | 2.90 |
| Eswatini | 126 | 17.80 | -6.70 |
| Zimbabwe | 127 | 17.70 | -2.90 |
| Viet Nam | 128 | 17.60 | -2.20 |
| Mozambique | 129 | 17.10 | -5.20 |
| Madagascar | 130 | 17.00 | -1.00 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 131 | 16.90 | -3.60 |
| Nigeria | 132 | 16.70 | -8.30 |
| Kenya | 133 | 16.60 | -8.60 |
| Argentina | 134 | 16.30 | 1.00 |
| Malawi | 135 | 16.00 | -3.60 |
| Liberia | 136 | 15.90 | -3.30 |
| Burkina Faso | 137 | 15.70 | -6.20 |
| Bangladesh | 138 | 15.50 | -1.20 |
| Ecuador | 139 | 14.50 | -4.50 |
| Nicaragua | 140 | 14.30 | -3.30 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 141 | 14.20 | -2.80 |
| Brazil | 142 | 14.10 | -3.50 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 143 | 13.90 | -8.30 |
| United Arab Emirates | 144 | 13.10 | -0.60 |
| Bhutan | 145 | 13.00 | 1.80 |
| Ethiopia | 145 | 13.00 | -4.80 |
| Zambia | 147 | 12.80 | -3.40 |
| Rwanda | 148 | 12.70 | -6.20 |
| Namibia | 149 | 12.60 | 1.90 |
| Botswana | 150 | 12.40 | -1.90 |
| Indonesia | 151 | 12.20 | 1.50 |
| Peru | 152 | 11.80 | -3.50 |
| Kuwait | 153 | 11.20 | -1.50 |
| Thailand | 154 | 11.00 | -1.20 |
| Mali | 155 | 10.90 | -4.50 |
| Colombia | 156 | 10.60 | -3.40 |
| Venezuela | 157 | 10.50 | -4.30 |
| Mexico | 158 | 10.40 | -3.20 |
| Sierra Leone | 159 | 9.60 | -2.30 |
| Nepal | 160 | 8.70 | -2.60 |
| Angola | 161 | 8.30 | 1.00 |
| Gabon | 162 | 8.00 | -5.10 |
| Cambodia | 163 | 6.80 | -3.70 |
| Guinea | 164 | 4.90 | -4.70 |
| Cameroon | 165 | 4.30 | -6.20 |
| Uganda | 166 | 4.10 | -5.00 |
| Guatemala | 167 | 1.10 | -3.80 |
| El Salvador | 168 | 0.50 | -3.80 |
| Bolivia | 169 | NA | NA |
| Brunei Darussalam | 169 | NA | NA |
| Central African Republic | 169 | NA | NA |
| Dem. Rep. Congo | 169 | NA | NA |
| Republic of Congo | 169 | NA | NA |
| Honduras | 169 | NA | -2.50 |
| Myanmar | 169 | NA | -1.90 |
| Laos | 169 | NA | NA |
| Malaysia | 169 | NA | NA |
| Papua New Guinea | 169 | NA | NA |
| Paraguay | 169 | NA | NA |
| Chad | 169 | NA | -2.40 |