Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, ranked as the world’s 10th most polluted city on Friday morning, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 167 recorded at 9 am. According to the AQI scale, this level falls under the ‘unhealthy’ category, indicating potential health risks for residents.
Under AQI classifications, scores between 50–100 indicate ‘moderate’ air quality, 101–150 are considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, 150–200 ‘unhealthy’, 201–300 ‘very unhealthy’, and anything above 301 is deemed ‘hazardous’, posing severe health threats.
India’s Delhi topped Friday’s list with an AQI of 385, followed by Vietnam’s Hanoi at 255 and India’s Kolkata at 246.
The AQI measures daily air quality and highlights how clean or polluted the air is, along with the related health implications. In Bangladesh, the index is based on five key pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ozone.
Dhaka has been struggling with air pollution for years. Air quality typically deteriorates during the winter months and sees improvement in the monsoon season.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution causes an estimated seven million deaths globally each year, largely due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
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