News Desk :
Bangladesh is the country with the worst air pollution in the world, according to a 2021 report by IQAir, a Swiss company that monitors air quality.
Bangladesh’s air contained 76.9 micrograms of small and hazardous airborne particles per cubic metre (?g/m3), over 15 times the WHO-recommended level of 5 ?g/m3, the report said, reports bdnews24.com The study collected pollution data from 6,475 cities across the globe and compared them to the new WHO standards on air pollution. The WHO says that even low concentrations of harmful elements in the air cause significant health risks. IQAir categorised Bangladesh’s air quality as ‘hazardous’. Bangladesh has consistently topped the list of countries with the worst air pollution since the company began conducting the study in 2018. The other countries in the top five were Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India.
Dhaka’s average air pollution in 2021 was 78.1 ?g/m3, making it the 28th-most polluted city in the world. However, the average was significantly affected by last year’s lockdowns, which led to lower pollution levels between April and September. Despite this, Dhaka still ranked as the second most polluted capital in the world, surpassed only by India’s New Delhi. Not a single country managed to meet the WHO’s standards for air quality in 2021 and only 3.4 percent of surveyed cities did so. Ninety-three cities saw levels at 10 times the recommended level.
“There are a lot of countries that are making big strides in reduction,” said Christi Schroeder, air quality science manager with IQAir. “China started with some very big numbers and they are continuing to decrease over time. But there are also places in the world where it is getting significantly worse.”China’s war on pollution since 2014 seemed to be having some effect as it fell from 14th place in 2020 to 22nd in 2021.
