Air Quality Index: Dhaka ranks 4th worst again today

Dhaka's air quality continued to remain in the "unhealthy" zone this morning.

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 184 at 9:00am today, Dhaka ranked fourth among global cities with the worst air quality.

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

Pakistan's Lahore, India's Delhi and Pakistan's Karachi occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 353, 217 and 185, respectively.

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

In Bangladesh, the AQI score is based on five kinds of pollutants -- particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.

Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. The city's air quality usually becomes 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 heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.

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.