AQI: Dhaka air ranks most polluted

The air quality of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka continued to be in the ‘very unhealthy’ zone on Tuesday morning.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 291 at 8:45am on Tuesday, Dhaka ranked first in the list of cities with the worst air.

Pakistan’s Karachi and Myanmar’s Yangon occupied the second and third spots in the list, with AQI scores of 191 and 189, respectively.

In Bangladesh, the AQI 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. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.