PETALING JAYA: Haze eased with 31 areas recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 2pm on Saturday (Oct 10), down from 33 as of 11am, according to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS).
Of the 30 areas that stayed in the unhealthy range, 24 recorded lower readings than at 11am, while three recorded higher readings and three were unchanged.
Johor remained the worst hit, with all eight of its areas still unhealthy and Tangkak recording the highest reading nationwide at 185, down from the 11am peak of 188 in Batu Pahat.
Johor had the most unhealthy areas with eight, followed by Selangor with six, Perak with four and Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang with three each.
The Johor areas were Tangkak (185), Larkin (183), Batu Pahat (182), Pasir Gudang (182), Segamat (179), Kluang (176), Kota Tinggi (172) and Pengerang (170), with only Pengerang recording a higher reading than at 11am.
In Negri Sembilan, Seremban (176), Nilai (173) and Port Dickson (162) were unhealthy, while the Melaka areas were Bukit Rambai (169), Bandaraya Melaka (169) and Alor Gajah (168).
In Selangor, the areas were Shah Alam (162), Johan Setia (160), Petaling Jaya (157), Klang (153), Banting (106) and Kuala Selangor (102), while Cheras (172) and Batu Muda (165) in WP Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (164) also recorded unhealthy readings.
In Perak, the areas were Tasek Ipoh (171), Pegoh Ipoh (167), Tanjung Malim (167) and Seri Manjung (131), while in Pahang they were Rompin (170), Indera Mahkota Kuantan (152) and Balok Baru Kuantan (115).
Kuching in Sarawak (154) also remained in the unhealthy range.
Temerloh in Pahang, Seberang Perai in Pulau Pinang and Samarahan in Sarawak have dropped out of the unhealthy range since 11am, while Balok Baru Kuantan in Pahang is the only new addition to the list. Banting in Selangor fell from 153 to 106 and Kuala Selangor from 152 to 102, leaving both just above the unhealthy threshold.
Among the areas with the highest moderate readings were Samarahan in Sarawak (98), Temerloh in Pahang (97), Seberang Perai in Pulau Pinang (96), IPD Serian in Sarawak (94), Miri in Sarawak (93) and Sungai Petani in Kedah (92).
Taiping in Perak (91), Seberang Jaya in Pulau Pinang (89), Politeknik Kota Kinabalu in Sabah (87) and Kulim Hi-Tech in Kedah (85) also recorded elevated moderate readings.
Meanwhile, 37 areas around the country recorded API readings at the moderate level, up from 35 as of 11am, 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.
