Colombo air pollution down to moderate levels

November 19, 2024

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Colombo air pollution down to moderate levels ^Featured

November 20, 2019

In terms of air quality, the World Air Quality Index ranks Sri Lanka 56th of 100 countries according to the real-time data as at yesterday.As at 11am yesterday, Colombo’s air pollution status stood at a moderate level of 76, as measured by PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter).The ‘moderate’ level, which ranges from 51-100, means the air quality “is acceptable, but for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) categorizations.

Colombo’s air pollution status will stand at ‘moderate’ level today and tomorrow, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) said citing the AQI predictions of the US Embassy in Colombo.According to world-wide real-time air quality monitoring data coverage, China (804), India (567), Turkey (507), Ukraine (470), Pakistan (399), Mongolia (285), Australia (241), Bangladesh (225), Nepal (215) and Uzbekistan (204) were the top 10 countries with the worst air pollution as at yesterday.

According to the pollution measurements, the air quality is considered good if the level stands below 50 and the top ten countries with best air quality were Iceland (5), Monaco (6), Liechtenstein (8), Moldova (9), Lithuania (10), Brunei Darussalam (13), Denmark (16), Martinique (16), Andorra (18), French Guiana (20) and Gibraltar (20).According to the past AQI data, Colombo air pollution had increased to 132 and 136 respectively on November 6 and 7 reaching the category of ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, but had remained on ‘good’ and ‘moderate’ levels on the rest of the days of the month.