Air quality
Air quality in Parakou today
Updated
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 129) People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 1:00 am (00:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Parakou, Borgou, Benin, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 129 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
- PM2.5
- 48 µg/m³ 3.2× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 103 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 43 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 129
- Best hour today
- 9:00 pm AQI 99
- European AQI
- 59
Air quality in Parakou right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Parakou, Borgou, Benin is 129, which falls in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" band (up to 150). People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 129. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.
PM2.5 is 48 µg/m³, 3.2 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 103 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 43 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 9 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: desert dust at 105 µg/m³, high enough to haze the sky, carbon monoxide 221 µg/m³.
Parakou AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 90 around Tue 1:00 am to 129 around Mon 1:00 am, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.
The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 70 against 114 for the next 24 hours.
| Local time (Africa/Porto-Novo) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1:00 am | 129 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 48.1 | 103 | 43 |
| Mon 4:00 am | 129 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 45.3 | 91 | 36 |
| Mon 7:00 am | 127 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 29.7 | 44 | 44 |
| Mon 10:00 am | 120 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 23.2 | 45 | 73 |
| Mon 1:00 pm | 114 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 29.7 | 77 | 90 |
| Mon 4:00 pm | 109 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 32.6 | 84 | 91 |
| Mon 7:00 pm | 104 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 26.4 | 52 | 63 |
| Mon 10:00 pm | 97 | Moderate | 18.9 | 29 | 60 |
| Tue 1:00 am | 90 | Moderate | 15.1 | 22 | 60 |
| Tue 4:00 am | 82 | Moderate | 11.6 | 16 | 60 |
| Tue 7:00 am | 75 | Moderate | 8.8 | 12 | 56 |
| Tue 10:00 am | 71 | Moderate | 11.3 | 23 | 68 |
| Tue 1:00 pm | 67 | Moderate | 15.1 | 33 | 83 |
| Tue 4:00 pm | 64 | Moderate | 16.8 | 35 | 85 |
| Tue 7:00 pm | 61 | Moderate | 16.8 | 28 | 54 |
| Tue 10:00 pm | 59 | Moderate | 12.8 | 19 | 65 |
| Wed 1:00 am | 58 | Moderate | 11.6 | 16 | 52 |
Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.
Best time to be outside in Parakou today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 99, Moderate) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 128). That is a swing of 29 points, so a run or walk around 9:00 pm is noticeably better.
Parakou vs the rest of Benin
Across 5 Benin cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 57 (Moderate). Parakou at 129 is 72 points worse than average.
For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.
Air quality in cities near Parakou
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iseyin | 185 km | 106 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 22.6 |
| Oyo | 218 km | 115 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 24.7 |
| Ogbomoso | 222 km | 124 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 25.8 |
| Ilorin | 230 km | 140 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 29.7 |
| Cové | 237 km | 63 | Moderate | 11.3 |
| Abeokuta | 255 km | 76 | Moderate | 22.6 |
| Ibadan | 259 km | 84 | Moderate | 22.5 |
| Ilobu | 263 km | 97 | Moderate | 21.9 |
Model vs measured
We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Parakou, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.
Wildfire smoke
PM2.5 is forecast to reach 48 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 71 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 117 km away). Smoke is a likely contributor: keep windows closed, run an air purifier or HVAC filter, and check the fire map before heading out.
Advice for sensitive groups
At 129, children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should limit time outdoors, especially strenuous activity. A well-fitted N95/FFP2 mask cuts particle exposure; it does not filter ozone.
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500. |
Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.
Nearby cities
More for Parakou
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.