Dhaka’s air quality moderate on Sunday morning

Air over Dhaka recorded moderate on Sunday morning

Dhaka, May 31 - Dhaka ranked 13th among the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday morning, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 96 at 10:50am.

The air quality was classified as “moderate”, indicating it may pose a mild risk for a very small number of unusually sensitive individuals, such as people with asthma or respiratory conditions, according to the AQI scale.

Johannesburg of South Africa, Kinshasa of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Santiago of Chile occupied the first, second and third spots with AQI scores of 170, 161 and 156, respectively.

According to AQI standards, a reading between 101 and 150 is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, 151 and 200 “unhealthy”, 201 and 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 7 million deaths globally each year, mainly due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. - UNB