Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked fourth worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Thursday morning.
It had an AQI score of 208 at 09:27am. The air was classified as ‘very unhealthy’.
Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar, India’s Delhi and Kolkata occupied the top three positions in the list of cities with worst air with AQI scores of 352, 230 and 220
respectively. When the AQI score is between 201 and 300, everyone may experience health effects and it gives a warning of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected in this state. The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants – Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3). The Department of Environment has also set national ambient air quality standards for these pollutants.
These standards aim to protect against adverse human health impacts.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. The air quality usually improves during monsoon.
