Published on 11:19 AM, August 14, 2022

Dhaka’s air quality “good” today: AQI

Kuwait City, Riyadh, Dubai top 3 cities with worst air

File photo: Orchid Chakma

With an air quality index (AQI) score of 45, Dhaka's air quality has been "good" this morning (August 14, 2022).

The capital of Bangladesh ranked 52nd at 9am in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.

Kuwait's Kuwait City, Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and the UAE's Dubai occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 177, 174 and 158, respectively.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good" while between 50 and 100 is "moderate".

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

Similarly, 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.

AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform 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.