Dhaka’s air quality remains ‘moderate’

Dhaka, the overcrowded capital city of Bangladesh, ranked 22nd on the list of cities with the worst air quality, with an AQI score of 75 at 9:25 am on Friday.

According to the Air Quality Index (AQI), Dhaka’s air was classified as ‘moderate’ today, indicating a light health threat.

When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 50 and 100, air quality is considered ‘moderate’. Usually, sensitive individuals are advised to limit prolonged outdoor exertion. An AQI between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, 151 to 200 is ‘unhealthy’, 201 to 300 is ‘very unhealthy’, while a reading above 301 is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.

Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lahore in Pakistan, and Kampala in Uganda occupied the top three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 164, 160, and 155, respectively.

The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs the public how clean or polluted the air is in a given city and what health effects might be associated.

Bangladesh's AQI is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ozone (O₃).

Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution. The city’s air quality usually deteriorates during winter and improves during the monsoon season.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide each year — primarily due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

Source: UNB