Who you believe?
SINGAPORE: Air quality levels in Singapore remain within safety limits, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday (Sep 26), a day after residents in many areas complained of a strong burning smell.
NEA said its checks included levels of volatile organic compounds, and industrial plants in the north-eastern parts of Singapore were found to be operating normally. The agency added that it has not received any more complaints about the smell.
"Investigations are ongoing," it said in a Facebook post. "NEA will continue to closely monitor the situation."
On Monday, residents in Sengkang, Buangkok and Hougang were among the first to notice the smell from as early as 4.30pm, describing it as "plastic burning" and "like petroleum". It spread to Bishan and Ang Mo Kio later in the afternoon.
By evening, the odour had spread to Commonwealth, Bukit Timah and Holland Village.
Authorities had also said on Monday that no toxic industrial chemicals were detected in the air and air quality levels were within safety limits.
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The plumes could be industrial pollution that originated in Malaysia, experts told Channel NewsAsia.
"It is likely to be exhaust from a smokestack of some kind of factory. You get a burning smell from the haze not a pungent smell," said Dr Ang Peng Hwa, who leads the Haze Elimination Action Team (HEAT).
It is possible that the smell came from the "release of chemical products or substances from a major industrial facility," said Dr Erik Velasco, a climate and meteorological research scientist at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.
It came from the north "possibly beyond the channel", he added.
The weather conditions helped to spread the smell across a large part of Singapore, Dr Velasco explained.
"Slow winds coming from the north and a local meteorology that trapped the plume close to the surface concentrated the smell, and obviously, the chemical species or pollutants associated with it," he said.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...apore-industrial-plants-in-north-east-9251746
SINGAPORE: Air quality levels in Singapore remain within safety limits, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday (Sep 26), a day after residents in many areas complained of a strong burning smell.
NEA said its checks included levels of volatile organic compounds, and industrial plants in the north-eastern parts of Singapore were found to be operating normally. The agency added that it has not received any more complaints about the smell.
"Investigations are ongoing," it said in a Facebook post. "NEA will continue to closely monitor the situation."
On Monday, residents in Sengkang, Buangkok and Hougang were among the first to notice the smell from as early as 4.30pm, describing it as "plastic burning" and "like petroleum". It spread to Bishan and Ang Mo Kio later in the afternoon.
By evening, the odour had spread to Commonwealth, Bukit Timah and Holland Village.
Authorities had also said on Monday that no toxic industrial chemicals were detected in the air and air quality levels were within safety limits.
Advertisement FUMES FROM FACTORIES A POSSIBILITY
The plumes could be industrial pollution that originated in Malaysia, experts told Channel NewsAsia.
"It is likely to be exhaust from a smokestack of some kind of factory. You get a burning smell from the haze not a pungent smell," said Dr Ang Peng Hwa, who leads the Haze Elimination Action Team (HEAT).
It is possible that the smell came from the "release of chemical products or substances from a major industrial facility," said Dr Erik Velasco, a climate and meteorological research scientist at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.
It came from the north "possibly beyond the channel", he added.
The weather conditions helped to spread the smell across a large part of Singapore, Dr Velasco explained.
"Slow winds coming from the north and a local meteorology that trapped the plume close to the surface concentrated the smell, and obviously, the chemical species or pollutants associated with it," he said.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...apore-industrial-plants-in-north-east-9251746
