Seoul ranked No. 3 among large cities with serious air pollution Tuesday, a real-time information service said.

According to pollution monitoring website AirVisual, Seoul had an air quality index (AQI) of 174, trailing those of New Delhi (194) and Dhaka (193) as of 10:00 a.m.

Seoul, which has been battling with fine dust particles in recent years, came in second place earlier in the day with a figure of 179.

The high numbers are mainly due to fine dust particles in the atmosphere.

AirVisual is an air quality monitoring and forecasting startup founded by French entrepreneur Yann Boquillod. The pollution map uses data from satellites and more than 8,000 monitoring stations to display global air pollution in real time

The visualization map created by the company shows an AQI on a scale from 0 to 300 and higher scores can translate into health problems down the line, it said. (Yonhap)