The air quality in Dhaka remained unhealthy on Saturday morning, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 166 at 9:14am.
With this score, the capital ranked ninth among the world's most polluted cities.
Iraq’s Baghdad, Singapore’s Singapore, Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Mumbai occupied the top four spots on the list, with AQI scores of 378, 206, 201 and 192, respectively.
An AQI score between 50 and 100 is considered "moderate" with an acceptable air quality, while one between 101 and 150 is considered "unhealthy for sensitive groups", while a score between 151 and 200 is classified as "unhealthy."
AQI readings between 201 and 300 are termed "very unhealthy", and anything above 301 is considered "hazardous", posing serious health risks.
The AQI provides daily updates on air quality, indicating how clean or polluted the air is and highlighting 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 deteriorating during winter and improving during the monsoon season.
The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution causes around seven million deaths globally each year, mainly from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.