Dhaka air quality remains ‘very unhealthy’

The air quality in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka has not improved in recent days and its residents continue to face health risks. The megacity ranked second among cities with worst air quality on Saturday morning, reports news agency UNB.

It had an AQI score of 214 at 8:51am. The air was classified as ‘very unhealthy’ and in this condition everyone may experience serious health effects.

When the AQI value is between 201 and 300, the entire population is more likely to be affected while children are advised to limit outdoor activities.

Moreover, the situation notifies health warnings of emergency conditions.

Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar and Vietnam’s Hanoi occupied the first and third spots in the list of cities with the worst air quality with AQI scores of 245 and 202 respectively.

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.