Dhaka’s air turns ‘very unhealthy’ with AQI score of 176

Air pollution still remains one of the top-most challenges for Bangladesh and Dhaka’s air turned ‘very unhealthy’ on Monday morning.

With an air quality index score of 176 at 9:00am, the metropolis ranked seventh in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.

An AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘very unhealthy’, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.

Iraq’s Baghdad, Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek and Uzbekistan’s Tashkent occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 340, 316 and 243, respectively.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Kolkata occupied the next two spots with an AQI of 223 and 216, respectively.

An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’, particularly for sensitive groups.

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 a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.

As per the World Health Organisation, 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.