KUCHING, Oct. 9 -- The Department of Environment (DoE) has urged the public to refer to its Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) for official air pollutant index (API) readings amid differences in figures displayed by other platforms.

In a media statement issued on Oct 8, DoE said the official readings could also be accessed through the MyJAS EQMS application, with APIMS updated hourly.

The department said differences between Malaysia's API readings and those displayed by independent websites or applications did not necessarily indicate a contradiction or that pollution levels had been understated.

It explained that such differences could arise from variations in index scales, calculation methods, thresholds, averaging periods...