Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka again ranked worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) for the second consecutive day on Thursday.
It had an AQI score of 190 at 08:46am. The air was classified as ‘unhealthy’.
Myanmar’s Yangon and China’s Chengdu occupied the second and third spots in the list of cities with the worst air quality with AQI scores of 183 and 182 respectively.
When the AQI value is between 150 and 200, everyone may begin to experience health effects.
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean 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 (O3).
The Department of Environment has also set national ambient air quality standards for these pollutants. These standards aim to protect against adverse human health impacts.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. Its air quality usually improves during monsoon.
Bangladesh was ranked as the most polluted country in the world for PM2.5 exposure, according to 2019 World Air Quality Report by IQAir published Tuesday.
source: UNB
