Members of the public report acrid smell in the air, reduced visibility in some parts of the island

The smoky smell that has been lingering in the air across the island in recent days may have been brought on by transboundary haze in the region, or fires in Singapore or other sources of localised burning, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Tuesday (March 29).

On a regional haze map put up by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre at 7.30pm, there were scattered hotspots detected over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Localised, thin smoke plumes were also observed in the vicinity of some of the hotspots.

The centre, which runs a regional collaboration programme among the national meteorological services of ASEAN member countries, reported that “wet weather condition continue to subdue hotspot activities with only isolated hotspots detected in Brunei” in the southern ASEAN region.

#SGHaze: Hotspots were detected in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei today, according to the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre. The 3-hr PSI level peaked at 87 at 8pm. Read more: http://bit.ly/1PDeeNl

Posted by TODAY on Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Since Sunday, there have been multiple reports from the public, regarding an acrid smell in the air and reduced visibility in some parts of the island, with some making calls to Mediacorp newsrooms to register their observations. From late Tuesday afternoon, there have been reports from various parts of the country, including the Central Business District and Sentosa, of palpable smoky smells in the air and visibly hazy conditions.

The three-hour PSI reading on Tuesday crept up from 69 at noon to 83 at 10pm. And the 24-hour PSI stayed within the Moderate range (51-100) in all parts of the island, registering between 61 and 69 at noon to between 65 and 80 at 10pm.

The NEA spokesperson said that “transboundary smoke haze from forest and peat fires in the region” may be a possible cause, but added that it was difficult to identify the cause or source of such smells because of their “transient nature”.

Such smells, the spokesperson said, are usually — but may not always be — accompanied by higher Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) or PM2.5 readings which measure fine particulate matter in the air. This means there is no strong correlation between PSI or PM2.5 readings and burning smells in the air.

Between last September and October, Singapore experienced a prolonged bout of haze which, at one point, forced the closure of primary and secondary schools for a day.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Kenneth Cheng

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