PETALING JAYA: Nine areas nationwide recorded unhealthy air quality as of 2pm on Sunday (Oct 25), down from 12 at 10am, according to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS).
The highest reading was at IPD Serian in Sarawak (196), up from 194 at 10am.
All nine areas were already in the unhealthy range at 10am. Five of them recorded lower readings, two recorded higher readings and two were unchanged.
Three areas dropped out of the unhealthy list with no new entries. They were Nilai (from 151 to 100) and Seremban (from 151 to 95) in Negri Sembilan, along with Kota Tinggi in Johor (from 102 to 96).
Sarawak and Johor had four unhealthy areas each, followed by Terengganu with one. Johor had five at 10am, while Sarawak's tally was unchanged.
In Sarawak, the unhealthy areas were IPD Serian (196), Kuching (185), Samarahan (182) and Sri Aman (159).
In Johor, they were Pasir Gudang (154), Batu Pahat (152), Kluang (130) and Larkin (103). Larkin and Kluang saw the sharpest falls among areas still in the unhealthy range, from 151 and 154 respectively at 10am.
Paka in Terengganu also recorded an unhealthy reading of 155.
Among areas with moderate readings, the highest were Nilai in Negri Sembilan (100), Sibu (100), Pengerang in Johor (98) and Kapit (97).
They were followed by Kota Tinggi in Johor (96), Seremban in Negri Sembilan (95), Sarikei (92), Bintulu (91), Batu Muda in WP Kuala Lumpur (89) and Segamat in Johor (86).
Meanwhile, 50 areas recorded moderate readings, up from 45 at 10am, while nine areas had good air quality, down from 11. These were Taiping, Seberang Jaya, Sungai Petani, Minden, Kangar, Alor Star, Kulim Hi-Tech, Langkawi and Balik Pulau.
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.
