Dhaka’s air quality was labeled as unhealthy, ranking fifth globally with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 152 at 9 am on Tuesday.
Delhi in India, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Jakarta in Indonesia took the top three spots, with AQI scores of 260, 174, and 159, respectively.
An AQI value between 101 and 150 indicates unhealthy air for sensitive groups, 150 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 is very unhealthy, and 301+ is hazardous, posing serious health risks.
The AQI measures daily air quality, indicating how polluted the air is and the potential health impacts.
In Bangladesh, 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 from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
