Dhaka ranked 24th among the world’s most polluted cities on Wednesday morning, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 123 at 09:09 am.
The air quality was classified as ‘moderate’, indicating the air may pose a moderate health concern for a small number of unusually sensitive individuals, such as people with asthma or other respiratory issues, according to the AQI scale.
Santhiago in Chile, Lahore in Pakistan, and Jakarta in Indonesia occupied the first, second, and third spot with AQI scores of 172, 163, and 158 respectively.
According to AQI standards, a reading between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, 151 to 200 ‘unhealthy’, 201 to 300 ‘very unhealthy’, while levels above 301 are deemed ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks.
The AQI, which provides daily updates on air quality, indicates how clean or polluted the air is and highlights potential health impacts.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is calculated based on five major pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone.
Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution, with air quality typically worsening in winter and improving during the monsoon season.
The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution causes around seven million deaths globally each year, mainly due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.