Shawdesh Desk:

Dhaka’s air quality continued to be in the ‘moderate’ zone on Saturday morning.

With an air quality index score of 56 at about 9:00am, Dhaka ranked 47th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.

The United Arab Emirates’ Dubai, China’s Chengdu and Uganda’s Kampala occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 177, 172 and 163, respectively.

An AQI between 50 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’ with acceptable air quality. However, there may be a health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.

Dhaka has long grappled with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in the winter and improves during the monsoon.

Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.

As per the World Health Organisation, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year.