Malaysians breathed fewer pollutants in 2021 as the Department of Statistics’ 2021 report indicated the concentration of air pollutants such as particulate matter or PM2.5 declined 6.7 percent (2020: -11.1%).
Meanwhile, DOSM in its report showed Carbon Monoxide which was mostly produced by vehicle exhaust eased by 9.7 percent (2020: -8.2%) as a result of the movement control that reduced the number of road users.
The restriction of industrial activities and human movement throughout the implementation of MCOs also leads to a positive
impact on air quality in Malaysia. The overall Air Pollution Index (API) recorded a “good” and “moderate” air quality status for API reading shows a decrease in the level of air pollutants, especially in major cities across the country due to lower air
pollutant emissions from motor vehicles smoke, industrial chimney emissions and open burning activitiy.
Increase in COVID-19 cases in 2021 also increased the use of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 test
equipment as well as the opening of new health facilities, quarantine and vaccination centres gave a direct impact on the
management of clinical wastes. The number of clinical wastes grew 43.9 percent in 2021 to 57.4 thousand metric tonnes as
compared to 39.9 thousand metric tonnes in 2020. Three states recorded the largest amount of clinical waste namely Selangor (13.0 thousand metric tonnes), Sarawak (8.3 thousand metric tonnes), and W.P. Kuala Lumpur (5.9 thousand metric tonnes).
In addition, the rate of road accident cases in Malaysia recorded a decrease of 11.5 percent, a drop of 47,951 cases as compared to 2020 due to MCO. The number of deaths due to road accidents also decreased by 95 deaths to 4,539 deaths in 2021 as compared to 4,634 deaths in the previous year.
