11 of 15 cities in Southeast Asia with cleanest air are in Philippines — report

MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 4:36 p.m.) — Eleven of the cities in Southeast Asia with cleanest air are in the Philippines, with Calamba in Laguna taking the top spot.
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This is according to Switzerland-based IQ AirVisual and Greenpeace’s 2018 Air Quality Report, which measured the amount of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 (µg/m³) in cities in 73 countries.

PM2.5 is a particulate matter (ambient airborne particles), which measures up to 2.5 microns in size and causes a wide range of short and long term health effects. Common sources of PM include combustion as well as through other pollutants reacting in the atmosphere.

​The Philippines ranked 48th on the list with an average of 14.6 µg/m³ of PM2.5, classified as “moderate.” The country fared better than its Southeast Asia counterparts such as Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Read more: Philippine Star