The haze over the last few weeks has been really annoying! Not only are we both having dry eyes and itchy throats, we are also feeling very tired.

Should a PSI reading above 50 be taken more seriously than it is?

Out of interest I thought I’d look at the pollutants index in London, as tonight will be bonfire night.

The air quality bands are calculated on a number of measurements including PM2.5 Particles (24 hour mean), µg m-3. Please see here

The accompanying health messages for at-risk groups and the general population seem to be more sensitive than the Singapore version.

For example if the PM2.5 is 60 it is in the high band and we should reduce outdoor activity.

What do you think?

Note: I’m totally open for someone to explain that I’ve interpreted it wrong.

It may be something to do with this statement:

“integrated air quality reporting index, where PM2.5 will be incorporated into the current Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) as its sixth pollutant parameter.”

Therefore maybe the Singapore PSI numbers included more pollutant readings?

Edit: The NEA FAQ explains that there is no internationally harmonised approach to calculate air quality indices.