IMPLEMENTING an upgrade of the air pollution reading system comparable with the one Singapore uses at 52 monitoring stations nationwide will take some two years, despite the 12 already fitted with the equipment needed to read an additional parameter, so says the Department of Environment (DoE). Being able to register the presence of particulate matter of 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), which is visible only with the use of electron microscopes, will show the true extent of pollution in the air causing the haze. Its importance goes without saying, for while the current five parameters may give an unhealthy reading, with the additional parameter it would not be surprising if a gloomier picture is presented. This is significant because the pollutants resulting from forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra are toxic. Dangerous levels released into the air are deleterious to human health.
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