Bangladesh is the world’s most polluted country, and Dhaka is the world’s second most polluted city in 2021.
The ‘The 2021 World Air Quality Report’ was released on Tuesday by IQAir, a Swiss business that develops air quality sensors and air purification solutions.
PM 2.5 air pollution readings from air monitoring stations in 6,475 cities across 117 nations, regions, and territories were analyzed in the paper.
According to the research, Central and South Asia had some of the world’s poorest air quality and were home to 46 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities, based on pollution data collected in 2021 from a total of 6,475 places.
Last year, the average concentration of microscopic, dangerous airborne particles known as PM2.5 in Bangladesh was 76.9 micrograms per cubic meter.
In the list of the world’s most polluted countries, Chad and Pakistan came in second and third, respectively, in terms of PM2.5 exposures.
To put things in perspective, the World Health Organization advises that average yearly PM2.5 readings of no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
Dhaka was also named the world’s second most polluted capital city (PM2.5 level 78.1), with New Delhi, India’s capital, topping the list (PM2.5 level – 85).
Meanwhile, N’Djamena, Chad’s capital, has been named the world’s third most polluted city, with a pollution level average of 77.6.
According to the research, barely 3% of cities and no one country exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) yearly PM 2.5 air quality recommendations.
Last year, the World Health Organization amended its air quality rules, emphasizing the fact that even low quantities posed considerable health hazards.
According to the survey’s findings, no nation would be able to achieve the WHO’s air quality criteria in 2021.
