AsiaOne 13 Feb 15;
SINGAPORE - The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the eastern part of Singapore continued to hit the moderate range on Friday, after complaints of hazy conditions since Thursday night.
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) website, the 24-hour PSI reading in the east was 79 as of 5pm. The rest of Singapore saw PSI readings between 56 to 63 at 5pm.
Residents living in the eastern part of Singapore have been complaining of a burning smell on Thursday night.
The Straits Times reported that those staying in Siglap, Bedok, Pasir Ris and East Coast Road were affected as early as 6.30pm.
The National Environment Agency showed a PSI level of 79 at 3am on Friday morning while the other regions reflected readings of 21 and below.
The amount of PM2.5 pollutants in the east also peaked at 155 at 3am on Friday, according to the NEA's MyEnb app, before dropping to 51 at 8am. At 2pm, the reading was 22. The PM2.5 reading measures small, toxic particles which can be emitted by forest fires, vehicles, power plants, refineries, ships and aircraft.
The PM2.5 reading for the rest of Singapore was in the range of 20-26 at 2pm, reported The Straits Times.
Twitter users flooded the site with pictures and updates on the haze. @Zhuangg said it "feels like a 300 outside my house" at 2am even though the reported PSI level was 68 then while @jkigay thought there was a "fire accident" in the east.
In response to speculation on fires, The Straits Times said that the Singapore Civil Defence Force confirmed at 9.30pm that there had been none reported in the affected areas.
Eastern Singapore stench likely caused by industry or rubbish burning, scientist says
AUDREY TAN Straits Times 13 Feb 15;
SINGAPORE - A strong burning smell detected in eastern Singapore on Thursday evening was likely caused by unusual industrial activity or the burning of rubbish, a research scientist told The Straits Times on Friday.
Residents of Pasir Ris, Tampines and Bedok had complained of the stench, which some described as being like burning plastic.
But research scientist Erik Velasco of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology's Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modelling ruled out haze as a possible cause, saying it was an "isolated event".
"The smoke-haze from fires blanketed, in major or minor proportion, the whole island and not only one region like in this case," he explained.
He believed that the smell could have been caused by the burning of rubbish or unusual industrial activity, such as illegally using material like old tyres, plastic bottles and oil for electric transformers as fuel.
"By 11 am (on Friday), the PM2.5 (a type of pollutant particle) concentration in the east had dropped to typical levels," he said. "However, if the spike on PM2.5 and bad smell occurs again, the authorities will have to investigate the origin."
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Friday that it had contacted its Malaysian counterparts to enquire if any changes have been observed in the air quality in Johor. It added that the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) - a measure of air quality here - has remained in the moderate range.
"NEA will continue to monitor the air quality readings and notify the public if there are any changes to the PSI," a spokesman said. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also confirmed that there had been no fires reported in the affected areas.
At 9pm on Thursday, the east had a PM2.5 reading of 44, while the north, west and central Singapore hovered at 16. The south had registered a reading of 5.
PM2.5 dropped to 24 in the east at noon on Friday. That hour, the rest of Singapore registered readings ranging from 21 (north) to 34 (south and west). And as of 5pm on Friday, the hourly PM2.5 readings stabilised in the 'good' range across Singapore.
Dr Velasco said the PM2.5 concentration spike in the east is likely to be a "very local emission source" and not caused by wildfires in neighbouring islands.
NEA: Air quality in eastern Singapore remains 'moderate'
Yahoo News 13 Feb 15;
A spokesperson for Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday said that the air quality in Singapore continues to be “moderate”, in response to queries from Yahoo Singapore.
She also added that NEA has contacted their counterparts in Malaysia to check if any changes to air quality had been observed in Johor.
“NEA will continue to monitor the air quality readings and notify the public if there are any changes to the PSI,” she said.
This comes after the pollutant concentrations index, better known as the PM2.5 reading, spiked in the East area of Singapore overnight on Friday, following complaints from residents in the area of a "burning smell" on Thursday evening.
The one-hour PM2.5 reading in the East area was 97 at 1am, and dropped to 76 before spiking to 155 at 3am. It later fell to 24 at 4am, but at 8am, it shot back up to 51 from 17 at 7am.
PM2.5 readings measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than or equivalent to 2.5 micrometers in size, which are considered to pose the greatest amount of health risk because they can lodge deeply into human lungs.
These levels were all below 22 around the rest of the island overnight, with only the West area showing a reading of 28 at 8am.
On Wednesday evening, residents in Siglap, Pasir Ris, East Coast Road and Bedok reported detecting a "strong burning smell". On Friday morning, commuters travelling from the East noticed hazier-than-usual conditions.
The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the East was also consistently higher than in the rest of the country, staying well above 70 through the night, and stood at 78 at 8am. Around the North, West, South and central regions, PSI levels hovered mostly below 60.
