Dhaka's air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups

Dhaka ranked 9th among the world’s most polluted cities on Thursday morning, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 102 at 09:40 am.

The air quality was classified as ‘Unhealthy for sensitive groups’, indicating the outdoor pollution levels are high enough to cause health effects in at-risk individuals, even though the general public remains largely unaffected, according to the AQI scale.

Delhi in India, Kinshasa in DR Congo, and Jakarta in Indonesia occupied the first, second, and third spot with AQI scores of 186, 155, and 139 respectively.

According to AQI standards, a reading between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, 151 to 200 ‘unhealthy’, 201 to 300 ‘very unhealthy’, while levels above 301 are deemed ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks.

The AQI, which provides daily updates on air quality, indicates how clean or polluted the air is and highlights potential health impacts.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is calculated based on five major pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone.

Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution, with air quality typically worsening in winter and improving during the monsoon season.
The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution causes around seven million deaths globally each year, mainly due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections, reports UNB.