Dhaka's air was classified as ‘unhealthy’ on Saturday morning as Bangladesh’s capital ranked the fifth worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI).
It had an AQI score of 154 at 07:50am. The air was classified as ‘unhealthy’.
Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar, China’s Chengdu and Shanghai occupied the first three spots in the list of cities with the worst air quality with AQI scores of 190, 157 and 155 respectively.
When the AQI value is between 151 and 200, some of the general public may experience health effects and members of sensitive groups may have 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. Its air quality usually improves during monsoon.