WARNING: ‘Acutely unhealthy’ air in most of NCR

Public encourage to wear masks and stay indoors.

Much of Metro Manila woke up to unhealthy air on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with 11 monitoring stations recording “acutely unhealthy” readings.

In its 6 a.m. air quality monitoring, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau in Metro Manila recorded the highest reading in Parañaque at 296, followed by Quezon City-Ateneo at 241, Las Piñas at 237 and Manila at 231.

The DENR-EMB classifies air quality readings from 0 to 50 as “good” or green; 51 to 100 as “fair” or yellow; 101 to 150 as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” or orange; 151 to 200 as “very unhealthy” or red; 201 to 300 as “acutely unhealthy” or purple; and 301 to 500 as an “emergency” or maroon.

Aside from those four, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela also recorded readings in the “acutely unhealthy” range.

Navotas and Pateros were classified as “very unhealthy,” while Makati was “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Quezon City-SMPH Commonwealth was the only station in the “fair” range, with a reading of 98.

The readings measure PM2.5—or particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller—which can come from smoke, vehicle emissions and other sources. Because they’re so small, they can get deep into the lungs.

The elevated PM2.5 levels may be linked to smoke and haze from ongoing fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, according to the DENR-EMB-NCR. Prevailing winds may be carrying the smoke and haze toward the Philippines.

The DENR-EMB-NCR advised people in areas marked orange, red or purple to do the following:

• Wear a mask for protection
  • Use respiratory protection, such as an N95 mask, if you need to go outside.
• Stay indoors
  • Limit your outdoor time and find fun indoor activities when air quality isn’t ideal.
• Protect the vulnerable
  • If you are part of the sensitive group (children, elderly, pregnant), notice how you feel and adjust your activities as needed.
• Get official updates
  • Get real-time air quality updates from various monitoring stations across Metro Manila, by visiting https://bit.ly/EMBNCRAQI.
• Connect and support
  • Share official updates with your family and friends, and look out for your community. Follow EMB-NCR and your LGUs’ official social media platforms.

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