Volatile organic compounds exposure

 

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