Dhaka's air quality was in the moderate zone on Wednesday morning.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 87 at 9:05am, Dhaka ranked 15th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.
Iraq’s Baghdad, the United Arab Emirates’s Dubai and Kuwait’s Kuwait City occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 187, 177 and 170, respectively.
An AQI score between 50 and 100 is considered moderate with acceptable air quality. However, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
In Bangladesh, the AQI score is based on five criteria pollutants — particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.
Per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year.
