According to Air Quality Index (AQI) data, on Friday morning (June 17, 2022), Jakarta's air quality was the second worst in the world, with a score of 166.
According to AQI data, the PM2.5 pollutant content in Jakarta's air this morning reached 97 µg/m³. This figure is almost 20 times higher than the safe limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 5 µg/m³.
The city with the worst air quality ranking first this morning was Johannesburg, South Africa, with an AQI score of 195.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, ranked third worst, with a score of 161.
The WHO estimates that 7 million premature deaths worldwide are linked to air pollution problems each year.
According to the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), air pollution can cause direct health problems such as eye irritation, nose and throat irritation, headaches, nausea and muscle aches, asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonia, and influenza.
Indirect health problems, on the other hand, can occur several years after exposure to pollution, including lung disease, heart disease, and cancer.
On its official website, Kemenkes also states that the average life expectancy of Indonesians is reduced by 1.2 years due to the concentration of fine dust particles in the air.
(Read also: Indonesia, the Country with the Worst Air Quality in Southeast Asia)