Air Quality Index: Dhaka ranks 7th worst

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked the seventh worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Friday morning.

It had an AQI score of 198 at 08:24am. The air was classified as ‘unhealthy’.

Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar, Pakistan’s Lahore and China’s Shenyang occupied the top three positions in the list of cities with worst air with AQI scores of 458, 239 and 220 respectively.

When the AQI score is between 151 and 200, everyone may experience health effects while members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

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.