Dhaka's air quality ‘unhealthy’ Wednesday morning

Dhaka's air quality was marked as 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' this morning.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 119 at 8:49 am, Dhaka ranked 10th on the list of cities worldwide with worst air quality, according to IQAir.

Israel’s Jerusalem, Qatar’s Doha and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 256, 170 and 157 respectively.

An AQI between 50 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’ with acceptable air quality. However, there may be a health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. AQI between 101 and 150 is considered ‘unhealthy', and between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.

Dhaka has long grappled with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in the winter and improves during the monsoon, reports UNB.