Dhaka ranked 41st among the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday morning, recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 66 at 10:00am.
The air quality was classified as “moderate”, indicating the air is acceptable for most people though it can pose a mild risk to a small number of "unusually sensitive" individuals, according to the AQI scale.
Johannesburg in South Africa, Kinshasa in Congo and Lahore in Pakistan occupied the first, second and third spot with AQI scores of 189, 166 and 158, respectively.
According to AQI standards, a reading between 101 and 150 is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, 151 and 200 “unhealthy”, 201 and300 “very unhealthy”, while levels above 301 are deemed “hazardous”, posing serious health risks.
The AQI, which provides daily updates on air quality, indicates how clean or polluted the air is and highlights potential health impacts.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is calculated based on five major pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone.
Dhaka has long struggled with air pollution, with air quality typically worsening in winter and improving during the monsoon season.