Thursday, October 05, 2006

Seremban (my home town) 'unhealthy' areas !?!

Unhealthy air quality has been recorded in more areas in the country as the haze situation deteriorated today.

The areas which recorded the latest Air Pollutant Index (API) exceeding 100 have risen from 11 yesterday to 15 as at 11am today, a Department of Environment spokesperson told malaysiakini.

(The department’s website, detailing API readings on a daily basis, has been experiencing technical problems since this morning.)

The four new 'unhealthy' areas are all in the peninsula - Kuala Selangor (111), Muar (110), Seri Manjung (107) and Bandar Raya Melaka (101).

However, the API in Petra Jaya, Sarawak - which was worse hit yesterday and recorded a ‘very unhealthy’ level - has dropped from 213 to 177 this morning.

Other areas remaining on the 'unhealthy' list are Sri Aman (178), Samarahan (174), Kuching (167), Sibu (163), Nilai (116), Kapit (110), Bukit Rambai (108), Seremban (105) and Bintulu (103).

The readings in these 15 areas however dropped marginally at 5pm but they remained at a 'very unhealthy level', except for Seri Manjung which recorded 94. (see chart)

Putrajaya hits unhealthy mark

Topping the list is still Sarikei in Sarawak, from 156 yesterday to 195 this morning, and down to 178.

In the Klang Valley, the situation has also worsened with Putrajaya hitting the unhealthy level in the evening. The API for Putrajaya stood at 102 at 5pm today.

The rest are of the readings in the evening are Kuala Lumpur (94, from 91), Shah Alam (97, from 94), Kajang (96, from 90), Port Klang (88, from 86) and Petaling Jaya (87, from 85). Such readings are considered ‘moderate’.

Overall, 33 areas recorded moderate API readings while three areas fall under the category of ‘good’.

API readings range from 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy) and 201-300 (very unhealthy). A reading above 300 is considered hazardous to human health.

The API readings are reviewed twice a day at 11am and 5pm.

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