Kuala lumpur: Seventeen areas in six states and two Federal Territories recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 8 am today. According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) portal data revealed that three areas in Sarawak reported unhealthy air quality, with Sri Aman leading the way with an API reading of 167. This was closely followed by the Serian district police headquarters (IPD) at 166 and Samarahan at 162.

In Selangor, five areas surpassed the 100 API mark, indicating unhealthy air quality. Johan Setia and Shah Alam both recorded an API reading of 158, while Klang registered 151, Banting 144, and Petaling Jaya 123. The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur also reported unhealthy API levels, with Cheras and Batu Muda recording 159 and 152, respectively. In Negeri Sembilan, Nilai and Seremban recorded unhealthy readings of 162 and 158.

Additional areas with unhealthy API levels included the Federal Territory of Putrajaya at 159, Tangkak in Johor at 153, Bukit Rambai and Alor Gajah in Melaka at 143 and 128, respectively, and Taiping in Perak at 108. Meanwhile, 49 areas across the nation recorded moderate air quality, with only two areas showing good readings. Fortunately, no areas reported very unhealthy or hazardous readings this morning.

The API readings are categorized as follows: zero to 50 indicates good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and readings above 300 are considered hazardous. These readings are released hourly based on data collected from 68 air quality monitoring stations nationwide.