<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Dhaka's air quality remained in the "unhealthy" zone Friday morning.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">With an air quality index (AQI) score of 196 at 9:15am, the capital ranked second in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An AQI between 151 and 200 is considered "unhealthy," 201 and 300 "very unhealthy," and 301 to 400 is considered "hazardous," posing serious health risks to residents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India’s Delhi, Chile’s Santiago, Poland’s Krakow occupied the first, third and fourth spots in the list, with AQI scores of 206, 178 and 175, respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants – particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and ozone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Read more: Dhaka’s air most polluted in the world this morning</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person's chances of developing heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>