Dhaka’s air still unhealthy Wednesday morning

Air pollution i a Dhaka street.

Dhaka, Feb 1 - The air quality of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka continued to be in the 'unhealthy' zone this morning.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 168 at 9:15 am today (February 1, 2023), Dhaka ranked 11th in the list of cities with the worst air.

Kazakhstan's Astana, Pakistan’s Karachi and Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 229, 195 and 190, respectively.

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.

Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. - UNB