Air quality nationwide sees improvement

Air quality in the country saw an improvement today, with no area having the Air Pollutant Index (API) at the unhealthy level as at 8 am compared to two on Wednesday.

The API in Sibu and Sri Aman in Sarawak, which had API at the unhealthy level on Wednesday, was the moderate API level of 95 and 82, respectively, at 8 am on Thursday, according to the portal of the Department of Environment (DoE).

Seventeen other areas had API at the moderate level as well, they being Bakar Arang, Sungai Petani (61) in Kedah; Jalan Tasek, Ipoh (51), Kg Air Putih, Taiping (61), SK Jalan Pegoh, Ipoh (55) and Seri Manjung (54) in Perak.

Prai (52), Seberang Jaya 2, Prai (59) and USM (53) in Penang; Bintulu (57), ILP Miri (55), Kuching (61), Miri (63), Samarahan (75) and Sarikei (55) in Sarawak; Port Klang (52) in Selangor; Cheras (56) in Kuala Lumpur and Labuan (54).

According to the portal, good air quality was recorded in 30 areas.

An API reading of between zero and 50 indicates good air quality; between 51 and 100, moderate; between 101 and 200, unhealthy; between 201 and 300, very unhealthy and over 301, hazardous.

Members of the public can refer to the DOE portal at http://www.doe.gov.my to find out the API reading for their areas.