Bangkok only city with hazardous PM2.5 levels

Bangkok only city with hazardous PM2.5 levels
On Thursday night, heavy dust obscures the perspective of high-rises in Bangkok. ( Bangkok Post photo )

Bangkok was the only city among 63 provinces battling thick smog late on Thursday morning that had been labeled as the only city covered by red-coded ( seriously hazardous ) levels of fine dust pollution, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency ( Gistda ).

The state space agency discovered at 10 a.m. that the capital’s airborne particulate matter level, which is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter ( PM2.5 ), had increased by 77.5 % per cubic meter ( g/m3 ) over the previous 24 hours.

The govt- set safe level is 37.5µg/m³, with crimson levels indicating a serious health risks at 75.2µg/m ³ and above.

Orange ( initially unsafe ) levels of PM2.5 were detected in 62 other provinces. Analyses ranged from 38.4 to 72.6µg/m³. The Central Plains and the Northeast were the regions where the majority of the provinces were located.

Recently shrouded with reddish- coded levels, the northeastern provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son saw a change to peach on Thursday night, ranging from 41 to 44µg/m³.

Just the South reported healthy PM2.5 levels.

On Thursday, high concentrations of fine sand pollution were spotted in Bangkok and 62 different regions. ( Screenshot from IQAir )