Dhaka’s air continues to be unhealthy as it ranked 12th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 160 at 8:50 am on Saturday.

China’s Wuhan, Vietnam's Hanoi and Pakistan's Karachi occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 271, 253 and 237, respectively.

When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, between 150 and 200 is unhealthy, between 201 and 300 is said to be very unhealthy, while a reading of 301+ is considered hazardous, posing serious health risks to residents.

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.

Dhaka’s air quality ‘very unhealthy’ this morning

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.

Dhaka’s air quality ‘very unhealthy’ this morning

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), 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.