<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Air pollution still remains one of the top-most environmental challenges for Bangladesh and Dhaka has ranked as the third most polluted city in the world with ‘very unhealthy’ air quality this morning.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dhaka’s air quality index (AQI) score was 239 at 9 am today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘very unhealthy’, while a reading of 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;">Pakistan’s Karachi and India’s Delhi occupied the first two spots in the list, with AQI scores of 428 and 241 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;">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 a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">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. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>