Haze in Malaysia: Air quality in Johor’s Pasir Gudang hits ‘very unhealthy’ levels

PETALING JAYA – Pasir Gudang in Johor recorded a very unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 205 as at 8am on Oct 16, the highest nationwide and up from 186 as at 7pm on Oct 15, according to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS).It is the only area in the very unhealthy range, while Klang in Selangor, which recorded the highest reading of 194 on Oct 15, is now at 181.In total, 33 areas recorded unhealthy or worse readings, the same as at 7pm on Oct 15.Of the 31 areas that remained unhealthy or worse, 19 recorded lower readings than on Oct 15 evening, while 10 recorded higher readings and two were unchanged.Johor had the most affected areas with eight, followed by Selangor with six, Perak with five and Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang with three each.The Johor areas were Pasir Gudang (205), Larkin (193), Pengerang (175), Batu Pahat (173), Kluang (170), Tangkak (165), Kota Tinggi (163) and Segamat (159), with five of the eight recording higher readings than on Oct 15 evening.In Negri Sembilan, Nilai (188), Seremban (181) and Port Dickson (171) were unhealthy, while the Melaka areas were Bandaraya Melaka (179), Bukit Rambai (178) and Alor Gajah (171).In Selangor, the areas were Johan Setia (184), Klang (181), Petaling Jaya (170), Shah Alam (170), Banting (169) and Kuala Selangor (155), while Batu Muda (170) and Cheras (168) in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (173) also recorded unhealthy readings.In Perak, the areas were Seri Manjung (171), Tanjung Malim (163), Pegoh Ipoh (155), Tasek Ipoh (152) and Taiping (102), while in Pahang they were Temerloh (157), Rompin (153) and Jerantut (134).Tawau (152) and Sandakan (103) in Sabah also recorded unhealthy readings.Indera Mahkota Kuantan in Pahang and Kemaman in Terengganu have dropped out of the unhealthy range since Oct 15 evening, while Tawau in Sabah and Taiping in Perak are new additions.Among the areas with the highest moderate readings were Indera Mahkota Kuantan in Pahang (95), Balok Baru Kuantan in Pahang (93), Kemaman in Terengganu (89), Besut in Terengganu (86), Paka in Terengganu (83) and Samalaju in Sarawak (82).Tanah Merah in Kelantan (81), Minden in Pulau Pinang (80), Seberang Jaya and Seberang Perai in Pulau Pinang (79 each) and Miri in Sarawak (79) also recorded elevated moderate readings.Meanwhile, 35 areas around the country recorded API readings at the moderate level, the same as at 7pm on Oct 15, while no areas recorded good readings.API readings of between zero and 50 indicate good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, while readings above 300 are categorised as hazardous.API data is released hourly based on readings from 68 air quality monitoring stations nationwide. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK