Tanjung Malim registers highest API reading in the country

This is moderate? The Prime Minister’s Office is almost invisible from the Boulevard in this photograph taken at about 5.20pm yesterday in Putrajaya. Yet the API reading for the area was just 78, defined as moderate. — MOHD SAHAR MISNI/The Star

PETALING JAYA: The Air Pollutant Index (API) in Tanjung Malim, Perak reached the unhealthy level of 121 yesterday.

API readings in Kuala Lumpur was highest in Cheras at 97, followed by Batu Muda (96) and Putrajaya (91). In Selangor, high API readings were recorded in Shah Alam at 93 and Petaling Jaya (91).

API readings of between 0-50 are considered good, moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101-200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (exceeding 301). The deteriorating air quality in the Klang Valley led many to question the moderate API readings on the Department of Environment’s (DOE) website.

Last Friday, smog blanketed Singapore as the city-state was hit by the year’s first major outbreak of haze, an annual crisis sparked by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia.

API readings are determined based on an international acceptable protocols, which calculates the 24-hour averaging times for five criteria pollutants, namely Particulate Matter of less than 10 microns (PM10), Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ground Level Ozone and Carbon Monoxide.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was also concerned about the haze situation, saying that the Government would take the necessary action about it.

He wrote on Facebook: “Looks like the haze has come back outside my office, and several other areas too. If your area is affected, take care of your health, especially the children and senior citizens.”