U.S. Embassy Jakarta has two air quality meters, one in Central and one in South Jakarta, that measure a type of air pollution called PM 2.5, referring to particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. Pollutants such as particle pollution are linked to a number of significant health effects — and those effects are likely to be more severe for sensitive populations, including people with heart or lung disease, children, and older adults.

Particulates less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5) are referred to as “fine” particulates and are believed to pose the largest health risks.  PM 2.5 is a standard recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and allows us to compare against U.S. standard measures.  PM 2.5 particulates are of concern since they are small enough to directly enter the lungs and even the blood stream.  For more information, please visit the EPA site.

The U.S. EPA has developed a formula to convert PM 2.5 readings into an air quality index (AQI) value that can help inform health-related decisions. For example, an AQI value of 50 represents good air quality with little potential to affect public health, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality. Both the Embassy AQM’s AQI values and the raw PM 2.5 data are available on the AirNow website.