"Shanghai, Moscow and Tehran have the highest levels of NO2 pollution, according to the research".
"Cities in relatively prosperous countries are blighted by serious levels of air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, often without realising the extent of the problem, research has found.
Moscow is the world’s second worst city for nitrogen dioxide pollution, behind Shanghai in China, while St Petersburg takes fourth place. Other cities near Russia follow close behind, including Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, and Minsk, capital of Belarus, at seventh and eighth place respectively, according to the research, published on Wednesday.
Pallavi Pant, senior scientist at the Health Effects Institute in the US, who oversaw the research, said: “Finding several Russian cities at the top of the list [for NO2 air pollution] was definitely surprising for us. It is likely to mainly come from traffic pollution and a vehicle fleet that is older.”
Other cities worst affected by NO2 pollution included Tehran in Iran, Cairo in Egypt, Istanbul in Turkey and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam."
