HAZE IN

MALAYSIA
ZAFFRIN ZARIFF B NAWAL ZAKHRAN
6 BRILLIANT
2019
 What is
haze?

How
haze Haze in
What
can
cause
affect Malaysi haze?
your a
health?

How to
deal
with the
haze?
WHAT IS HAZE?
■ Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances
including gases, particles, and biological molecules are introduced into 
Earth's atmosphere. It may cause diseases, allergies and even death to humans;
it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops,
and may damage the natural or built environment. Both human activity and
natural processes can generate air pollution.
■ Air pollution has been an ongoing problem in many countries in the 
Southeast Asia region, and Malaysia is one of the worst affected. The main cause
of this haze is the slash and burn practice by farmers and peat fires blown by the
wind from Indonesia. especially Sumatra, which mainly affects the 
Peninsular Malaysia and Kalimantan, which mainly affects East Malaysia
■ Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and
other dry particulates obscure the clarity of the sky. The 
World Meteorological Organization  manual of codes includes a classification of
horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, 
smoke, volcanic ash, dust, sand, and snow.[1] Sources for haze particles include 
farming (ploughing in dry weather), traffic, industry, and wildfires
AIR POLLUTION INDEX (API)
■ The air quality in Malaysia is reported as the Air Pollution Index (API). Four of
the index's pollutant components (i.e., carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen
dioxide and sulfur dioxide) are reported in ppmv but PM10 particulate matter is
reported in μg/m3.
■ This scale below shows the health classifications used by the Malaysian
government.
  0-50   Good
  51-100  Moderate
 101-200  Unhealthy
 201-300  Very unhealthy
 301 Hazardous
■ If the API exceeds 500, a state of emergency is declared in the reporting area.
Usually, this means that non-essential government services are suspended,
and all ports in the affected area are closed. There may also be a prohibition
on private sector commercial and industrial activities in the reporting area
excluding the food sector.
THE EFFECT OF HAZE.
1. All schools in KL, Selangor, Putrajaya,
Penang closed due to haze
■ A total of 1,658 schools in Selangor, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will
be closed for two days beginning tomorrow after the Air Pollutant Index (API)
readings reached ‘very unhealthy’ level.
■ According to a statement issued by the Education Ministry, principals and
headmasters can announce the closure of schools if the haze worsens by
notifying the state education departments and district education offices. 
■  It said that if the pupils or students were at the schools at the time that they
were declared closed, they could continue their classes as usual until the end
of the school session unless there was a request from parents to take their
children home.
■ Teachers were also given the option to work from home if their schools
were involved in the closure, the statement added.
■  A total of 119 schools in Kulim Bandar Baharu, Kedah, 147 schools in Larut,
Matang and Selama, Perak as well as 53 schools in Nilai, Labu and Mantin in
Negeri Sembilan will also be closed tomorrow after the API readings in the
respective areas exceeded 200.
■ The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) in a statement today
2. Flights were cancelled
■ The worsening haze situation has also forced six flights at the Sultan
Azlan Shah Airport, Ipoh to be cancelled, affecting 1,418 passengers.
■ Besides that, 19 flights to and from the Penang International Airport
in Bayan Lepas Penang, were also cancelled due to low visibility.
■ Meanwhile, Nadma said the Malaysian Meteorological Department had
predicted there would be moderate to thick haze in several areas
around Malaysia until Sept 19 affecting visibility in Sarawak, West
Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the East Coast of Sabah.
■ According to the Malaysian Air Pollution Index Management System
(APIMS) portal, as of 6 pm today, nine locations recorded very
unhealthy API readings namely Petaling Jaya (207), Shah Alam (216),
Nilai (210), Sri Aman (228), Kuching (215) , Johan Setia Klang (258),
Balik Pulau (257), Minden (230) and Kulim (206).
■ An API reading of between 0 and 50 is categorised as good, between
51 and 100 (moderate), between 101 and 200 (unhealthy), between
201 and 300 (very unhealthy) and more than 301 (dangerous).
3. More people fall sick
■ As haze continued to blanket parts of Malaysia, clinics in the Klang
Valley reported a spike in the number of patients seeking treatment for
cough and respiratory infection. 
■ Haze particles can affect the heart and lungs, especially in people who
already have chronic heart or lung disease e.g. asthma, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), or heart failure. There may be up to 1-3 days of
time between exposure to haze and health effects/ symptoms
■ Several private clinics noted the upward trend this month, as parts of
Malaysia recorded unhealthy air levels which the environment ministry
blamed on transboundary haze from Indonesia. 
■ Dr Kavitha Ramochandran from Klinik Nadia in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur,
said on Friday (Sep 13) that she has been treating between 20 and 30
patients a day for upper respiratory tract infections of late, a rise from the
usual 10 to 15 a day. Dr Kavitha added that even when patients contracted
respiratory infection from other sources, it could take them longer to heal
due to the unhealthy air.  "Patients with asthma are also
experiencing attacks that are more severe than usual, and I can say that it’s
definitely because of the haze," she said. 
How Haze Can Affect Your
Health?
How to deal with the haze?
1. Be informed ■ Since early September,
on API and its Malaysians have woken up
health to the smell of haze caused
implications by smoke. The Air Pollutant
Index (API) reading at
these areas varies. An API
reading of between 0 and
50 is considered good, 51
to 100 (moderate), 101 to
200 (unhealthy), 201 to
300 (very unhealthy), and
301 and above
(hazardous).
2. ■ We should be aware of
the air quality in our
Download area. If the air quality is
an app to bad, we can minimise
going outdoors or wear a
check air face mask. An easy way
quality would be having the
information in your
phone. We suggest that
you
download My Air Index ap
p
.
3. Get air- ■ Not only do certain houseplants
provide a breath of fresh air, but
filtering indoor they could also naturally improve
plants or air indoor air quality.
filters
4. Wear
■ During the haze season, we can see many types of
masks being worn, such as surgical masks and
respirators, but how do we know which one we

the right
should be wearing to protect ourselves?
■ A surgical mask should be worn if you are down
with a cold, flu, or cough, and when you are

mask working with patients. However, it cannot provide

adequate protection against fine particles present
in smoke and haze.
■ Respirators, also known as particulate respirators,
are devices designed to protect the wearer from
inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors or
gases. There are two main forms of respirators:
disposable and reusable.
■ Disposable respirators are masks that have the
word “NIOSH” and either “N95“, “N99“, “N100“,
“R95“, “R99“, “R100“, “P95“, “P99” or “P100”
printed on them. NIOSH stands for the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A
product that bears the word NIOSH means it meets
certain standard recommended by the agency.
■ The number indicates the minimum amount of
airborne particles (in percentage) that the
respirator is able to filter. For instance, if a
respirator is “N95” certified, it means it can filter
at least 95% of particles that do not contain oil.
■
How to
wear a
mask.
5. Stay ■ The dry season easily
dehydrates us, so best to
hydrated stay hydrated at all
times, and always carry a
bottle of water with you
wherever you go.
6. Avoid ■ With polluted air quality,
smoking just makes
smoking everything a lot worse,
and and you won’t be doing
yourself or anyone
cigarette around you any favour.
smoke Be considerate and avoid
smoking (or cigarette
smoke if you’re a non-
smoker) for the time
being.
7. ■ Recently, several states
in Malaysia have issued
Minimise that the respective public
outdoor minimise their outdoor
activities. Depending on
activities where you live and the
current API reading, try to
minimise your outdoor
activities if they’re not
that important. If you do
have to go out, make
sure you wear the right
mask and stay hydrated.
8. Drink ■ The dry season makes us
dehydrated even more,
less or so you might want to
avoid reduce your coffee and
alcohol intake, or just
coffee and avoid them for the time
alcohol being until the haze is
gone. Drink plenty of
water instead to stay
hydrated at all times.
9. Build up ■ Aside from drinking
your immunity plenty of liquid, you need
with foods rich to fuel yourself with
green veggies, fruits, oily
in vitamin C fish, nuts and other
(oranges, healthy food to boost
guava, your wellbeing.
strawberries),
vitamin E (nuts
and seeds) and
omega-3 fatty
acids (oily fish)
10. Close ■For better indoor
all air quality, close
windows all windows and
and doors doors and have
air-filtering plants
or air-conditioner
on standby.