Air quality deteriorated further across Malaysia this afternoon, with two areas in Sarawak recording “very unhealthy” Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and 29 other locations registering unhealthy levels as of 4pm.
According to the Environment Department’s monitoring portal, Sri Aman recorded the country’s highest API reading at 229, followed closely by Serian at 228.
Several other locations in Sarawak also recorded unhealthy air quality, including Sarikei at 194, Samarahan at 185, Kuching at 180, Mukah at 171 and Sibu at 166.
Bintulu and Kapit each recorded an API reading of 156, while Samalaju registered 149.
In the Klang Valley, Cheras remained the area with the highest reading at 160. Shah Alam followed at 157, while Batu Muda recorded 156.
Putrajaya and Johan Setia each recorded 155, followed by Petaling Jaya at 152, Kuala Selangor at 121 and Klang at 120.
Unhealthy air quality was also detected at several monitoring stations in Penang, with Minden recording 158, Seberang Perai 157 and Seberang Jaya 156.
In Kedah, Sungai Petani recorded 161, followed by Langkawi at 152, Alor Setar at 150 and Kulim Hi-Tech at 103.
Perak also saw unhealthy readings in Taiping at 158, Tanjung Malim at 156 and Tasek Ipoh at 152.
In Negeri Sembilan, Nilai recorded an API reading of 154 while Seremban registered 151. Segamat in Johor recorded 132.
The remaining monitoring stations nationwide recorded moderate air quality, with no location reporting a “good” API reading as of 4pm.
Under Malaysia’s API classification, readings between zero and 50 indicate good air quality, 51 to 100 are considered moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, while readings above 300 are classified as hazardous.
