PETALING JAYA: Haze lingered across the country with 37 areas recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 1pm on Friday (Oct 9), down from 38 as of 8am, according to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS).
Seremban in Negri Sembilan and Pasir Gudang in Johor shared the highest reading nationwide at 188, up from 186 and 179 respectively at 8am.
Despite the drop in the overall number, 20 of the 37 areas recorded higher readings than at 8am, while 13 recorded lower readings and four were unchanged.
Johor had the most unhealthy areas with eight, followed by Selangor with six, Perak with five and Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Pulau Pinang with three each.
The Johor areas were Pasir Gudang (188), Segamat (183), Tangkak (183), Larkin (180), Kluang (175), Pengerang (175), Kota Tinggi (171) and Batu Pahat (170), with six of the eight recording higher readings than at 8am.
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In Negri Sembilan, Seremban (188), Nilai (182) and Port Dickson (175) were unhealthy, while the Melaka areas were Bukit Rambai (186), Bandaraya Melaka (182) and Alor Gajah (180).
In Selangor, the areas were Johan Setia (183), Shah Alam (176), Petaling Jaya (168), Banting (167), Klang (166) and Kuala Selangor (154), while Batu Muda (172) and Cheras (169) in WP Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (171) also recorded unhealthy readings.
In Perak, the areas were Tasek Ipoh (182), Pegoh Ipoh (175), Tanjung Malim (174), Seri Manjung (159) and Taiping (123), while in Pahang they were Rompin (165), Indera Mahkota Kuantan (160) and Temerloh (154).
Sungai Petani (156) and Alor Setar (153) in Kedah also recorded unhealthy readings, as did Minden (154), Seberang Jaya (152) and Seberang Perai (122) in Pulau Pinang and Kemaman in Terengganu (152).
Balok Baru Kuantan in Pahang, which recorded 107 at 8am, is no longer in the unhealthy range.
Among the areas with the highest moderate readings were Kulim Hi-Tech in Kedah (90), Balok Baru Kuantan in Pahang (89), Paka in Terengganu (88), Besut in Terengganu (88), Sri Aman in Sarawak (88) and Balik Pulau in Pulau Pinang (87).
Kangar in Perlis (86), Kota Bharu in Kelantan (85), Kuching in Sarawak (85) and IPD Serian in Sarawak (85) also recorded elevated moderate readings.
Meanwhile, 31 areas around the country recorded API readings at the moderate level, up from 30 at 8am, 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.
