Almaty, May 29, 2026 — During the school year, most children in Almaty breathe air with pollution levels nearly nine times higher than WHO recommendations. According to estimates by the Almaty Air Initiative Foundation, cumulative exposure to such levels of PM2.5 may correspond to a potential loss of 7–8 IQ points in a child, while a year spent at school in the city’s northern districts can impose a burden on the lungs comparable to smoking hundreds of cigarettes. These are the findings of an air quality study conducted around educational institutions in Almaty to mark International Children’s Day. 

The study covered 352 schools and 1,008 kindergartens and was based on data from the Almaty Air Initiative PM2.5 sensor network and open sources for the 2025–2026 school year. All measurements reflect air quality in the areas surrounding the institutions and are not an assessment of the schools or kindergartens themselves.

Key Findings:

  • A year spent at a school or kindergarten in the Turksib District exposes a child to an air pollution burden comparable to approximately 423 cigarettes.
  • On 48.4% of school days (76 out of 157 school days), PM2.5 concentrations around Almaty schools and kindergartens exceeded Kazakhstan’s average daily maximum permissible concentration of 35 μg/m³.
  • The average PM2.5 level around kindergartens was 44.8 μg/m³, and around schools 43.0 μg/m³ — nearly nine times higher than the WHO annual guideline of 5 μg/m³.
  • The difference between the cleanest and most polluted institutions was as high as 3.5-fold.
  • In the Turksib District, PM2.5 levels exceeded WHO recommendations on 91% of school days.

Zhuldyz Saulebekova, Director of the Almaty Air Initiative Foundation:

«Smog in Almaty is not merely an environmental problem. It is a threat to the health and future of our children and to their intellectual potential. For more than 80% of the school year, children were breathing polluted air, increasing the risk not only of respiratory diseases but also of impaired brain function. Our children have the right to grow up healthy and to have the same opportunities in life as children living in cities with clean air».

The Most Severe Situation Is in the Northern Districts

The Turksib and Alatau districts together accounted for nearly 66% of all extremely polluted hours during the season. At the same time, even in the districts with comparatively better air quality, pollutant concentrations failed to meet international recommendations for children for much of the time.

Almaty School Locations with the Most Polluted Air

District School Average PM2.5PM2.5
Alatau School No. 156 71.3 μg/m³
Turksib School No. 84 67.1 μg/m³
Almaly School-Gymnasium No. 147 64.6 μg/m³
Nauryzbay QSI International School 62.8 μg/m³
Zhetysu School No. 137 59.0 μg/m³

High pollution levels reflect the air quality in the areas surrounding the schools, rather than the performance of the institutions themselves: the main sources of pollution are beyond their control.

Around School No. 156, PM2.5 levels were 16 times higher than the WHO guideline. The case of School-Gymnasium No. 147 in the relatively clean Almaly District is particularly illustrative: the air around the school fell into the “red zone” due to its proximity to the Almaty-2 railway station, where diesel locomotives operate and passenger cars are heated with coal. On the most polluted day of the year, December 7, the average daily PM2.5 concentration near the school reached 207.5 μg/m³, with a peak of 774 μg/m³ — 55 times higher than the WHO guideline and 4.8 times higher than Kazakhstan’s maximum one-time permissible concentration.

Of the 20 kindergartens with the most polluted surrounding air, 12 are located in the Alatau District, even though children are expected to spend up to 2–3 hours outdoors every day under applicable standards.

The study also reconstructed a month-by-month picture of air pollution throughout the school season.

What Does This Mean for Children’s Health?

According to an international 2024 meta-analysis, every additional 1 μg/m³ of PM2.5 correlates with an approximately 0.27-point reduction in a child’s IQ. At Almaty’s average annual pollution level, this translates into a potential loss of 7–8 IQ points. Air pollution is also associated with an increased risk of asthma, chronic respiratory diseases, reduced lung function, and impaired concentration and learning ability.

The Almaty Air Initiative Foundation proposes a number of measures that could reduce children’s exposure to polluted air in the coming years.

 What the Foundation Proposes

  • Ban coal heating within a 1 km radius of schools and kindergartens — the fastest way to reduce PM2.5 levels in the northern part of the city.
  • Transparent monitoring: install sensors near every educational institution and provide parents with public online access to the data.
  • School protocols for high-pollution days: cancel outdoor activities and physical education classes when PM2.5 levels exceed 50 μg/m³.
  • Standards for new construction: require filtration of incoming ventilation air in classrooms located in highly polluted areas.
  • “Clean zones” around schools: prohibit engine idling and prolonged parking with engines running.
  • Medical registry: track cases of asthma and bronchitis by school and link the data to local air quality.
  • Educational campaign for parents: provide guidance on the times and days when children should spend less time outdoors.
  • Equip educational institutions in polluted districts with ventilation systems fitted with HEPA filters.

The full study is available on the Almaty Air Initiative Foundation website: https://air.org.kz/research/vozduh-kotorym-dyshat-deti-almaty-chto-pokazyvaet-vozduh-vozle-shkol-i-detskih-sadov/