PETALING JAYA: Haze persisted across the country with 38 areas recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 8am on Friday (Oct 9), up from 36 as of 6pm on Thursday, according to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS).
Seremban in Negeri Sembilan recorded the highest reading nationwide at 186, compared with the nationwide peak of 191 in Segamat, Johor, as of 6pm on Thursday (Oct 8).
Johor had the most unhealthy areas with eight, followed by Selangor with six, Perak with five and Pahang with four.
The Johor areas were Segamat (183), Tangkak (181), Pasir Gudang (179), Kluang (176), Larkin (172), Batu Pahat (169), Pengerang (169) and Kota Tinggi (164), with six of the eight recording higher readings than on Thursday evening.
In Negeri Sembilan, Seremban (186), Nilai (183) and Port Dickson (174) were unhealthy, while the Melaka areas were Bandaraya Melaka (184), Bukit Rambai (183) and Alor Gajah (177).
The unhealthy areas in Selangor were Johan Setia (182), Shah Alam (178), Petaling Jaya (169), Banting (169), Klang (168) and Kuala Selangor (145), while Batu Muda (172) and Cheras (170) in WP Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (170) also crossed the threshold.
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In Perak, the areas were Tasek Ipoh (176), Tanjung Malim (173), Pegoh Ipoh (171), Seri Manjung (159) and Taiping (130), while in Pahang they were Rompin (170), Indera Mahkota Kuantan (162), Temerloh (154) and Balok Baru Kuantan (107).
Sungai Petani (157) and Alor Setar (152) in Kedah also recorded unhealthy readings, as did Minden (153), Seberang Jaya (151) and Seberang Perai (120) in Pulau Pinang and Kemaman in Terengganu (153).
Kuala Selangor and Alor Setar are new additions to the unhealthy list since Thursday evening, while Balok Baru Kuantan fell sharply from 165 to 107 and Seberang Perai from 152 to 120.
Among the areas with the highest moderate readings were Kulim Hi-Tech in Kedah (93), Kangar in Perlis (92), Paka in Terengganu (90), Balik Pulau in Pulau Pinang (87), Sri Aman in Sarawak (87) and IPD Serian in Sarawak (87).
Besut in Terengganu (84), Kota Bharu in Kelantan (83), Kuching in Sarawak (82), Samalaju in Sarawak (78) and Bintulu in Sarawak (78) also recorded elevated moderate readings.
Meanwhile, 30 areas around the country recorded API readings at the moderate level, 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.
