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Dhaka's air quality 'moderate' Thursday morning
Dhaka's air quality was marked "moderate" this morning due to rain in the capital city.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 82 at11:02 am, Dhaka ranked 22th in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
Senegal’s Dakar, Iraq’s Baghdad and India’s Delhi the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 174, 160 and 157, respectively.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered to be “good” while between 50 and 100 it is considered “moderate”.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be “poor'”, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered “hazardous”, posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how safe 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.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections, reports UNB.