Requirements for the air quality have been raised in Russia since March 1


Since March 1, Russia has introduced the new sanitary rules and standards of SanPin 1.2.3685-21 Hygienic Standards and Requirements for Ensuring Safety and/or Harmlessness of Environmental Factors for Humans,» which establish, among other things, the maximum allowable concentrations (MACs) of pollutants. Air suitability for breathing depends on this indicator. Over the past 20 years, these indicators have been increasing in our country, that is, increasingly higher values have been recognized as allowable.

The new rules mean that there must be fewer carcinogenic substances in the air: Benzene by 1.7 times, acrylonitrogens by 6 times, carbon tetrachloride by 17.5 times, and 1,3-butadiene by 50 times. There must be no beryllium or its compounds at all. Number of substances will decrease due to reducing the allowable values for 9 pollutants, five of which are carcinogens: Nitric oxide, acetaldehyde, dimethylbenzene-1,2-dicarbonate, carbon sulfide, benzene, beryllium and its compounds, 1.3-butadiene, and acrylonitrile.

All new values for carcinogenic substances are specified in accordance with the Public Health Risk Assessment Guidelines.

It is worth noting that the new standards establish average annual maximum allowable concentrations, whereas previously only maximum one-time, daily average and monthly averages were recorded. 

The above regulations will be valid until March 1, 2027