Dhaka was ranked third among cities worldwide for poor air quality, recording an AQI value of 132 at 8:56am on Saturday.
The city’s air was deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI).
Delhi, India, and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, took the first and second spots with AQI scores of 176 and 170, respectively.
An AQI value between 101 and 150 indicates air quality that is “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. Values between 150 and 200 are considered “unhealthy”, between 201 and 300 are “very unhealthy”, and readings over 301 are “hazardous”, posing serious health risks.
The AQI, which reports daily air quality, helps people understand the cleanliness or pollution level of the air in a city and the associated health risks.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution, with air quality worsening in winter and improving during the monsoon.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution causes an estimated seven million deaths annually, mainly due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
