Top 5 Things to Pack in a Family Haze Kit

A family haze kit in Malaysia needs five things: a respirator that seals on every face over two, a portable air cleaner for the room the family sleeps in, a stocked supply of any regular medication, plain water and eye drops, and one agreed way to check the API each morning. Everything else on the usual emergency list is for floods.

TYGRON® is the daily tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus rhinocerus) sachet from ORGANO, made in Malaysia by Fungitech Sdn Bhd and formulated in Australia by our Sydney team. It belongs in the kitchen cupboard rather than the emergency box, and the difference between those two shelves is the argument of this list.

What goes in a Malaysian haze kit?

Five items, in the order they earn their place. A kit is a set of decisions made before the sky turns white.

1. A respirator that seals, one per person. The US Environmental Protection Agency's 2026 fact sheet EPA-452/F-26-004 is blunt about the cheap alternative: masks with ear loops "are not designed to seal tightly to the face and will not protect your lungs from smoke." Buy two head straps and the right size before you need them. Our guide to which mask actually filters haze goes through the markings.
2. One portable air cleaner, sized for one room. EPA guidance updated in September 2026 is to "Choose a portable air cleaner that is the right size for the room in which you will use it", and to place it "where people spend the most time" on the highest fan speed. The sizing arithmetic is in our note on matching a purifier to room size.
3. A stocked supply of regular medication, plus the plan that goes with it. The same EPA page tells households to "Have at least a 5-day supply of food and medication on hand", and adds: "If you have asthma, make sure you have an asthma action plan." The written plan is the item families skip and then wish they had at 11pm.
4. Plain water and lubricating eye drops. Gritty eyes and a scratchy throat arrive first and get treated last. Eye drops cost a few ringgit and live in the same box as the masks.
5. One agreed way to check the API. The Department of Environment publishes readings through its APIMS portal, and its index guide sets six bands: 0 to 50 Good, 51 to 100 Moderate, 101 to 200 Unhealthy, 201 to 300 Very Unhealthy, above 300 Hazardous, above 500 Emergency. One person checks, one group chat gets the number.

How do you pick a mask that actually seals?

By buying for the face, not the packet. The EPA fact sheet asks for two head straps, a clean shaven contact area because "A good seal is not possible with facial hair", and a size checked against the package instructions. It also sets the limit marketing never mentions: "Wearing a respirator can make it harder to breathe. If you have heart or lung problems or are pregnant, ask your doctor before using a respirator."

Which room should the air cleaner go in?

The one where the family sleeps, because that is where the most continuous hours are spent. Shut the door, keep the windows closed while the air outside is bad, and run the machine on high rather than a quiet setting that moves very little air. The EPA also suggests keeping spare filters, since heavy smoke means changing them sooner than the manufacturer's schedule.

What does the API number change?

It changes who stays in, and the Department of Environment is specific about who. At 101 to 200, its guidance is "Limited outdoor activities for the high risk people", with high risk defined in the same document as people with heart and lung complications. Older adults are not named until 201 to 300, where the advice becomes "Old and high risk people are advised to stay indoor and reduce physical activities". Read the band, not the colour on an app, and see our explainer on why API and PSI are not the same number.

What changes when you pack for a child?

The mask. The EPA fact sheet states that "Children ages 2 years and older can wear respirators; however, NIOSH Approved respirators do NOT come in sizes suitable for young children", so fit is trial and error, and an uncomfortable mask gets pulled off. The American Lung Association's State of the Air 2026, published in April 2026, notes that "Infants, children and teens as a group are more susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution. Their lungs are still developing, they breathe more air for their body size than adults, and they are frequently exposed to outdoor air." The phrase that matters there is "for their body size".

The habit that sits underneath the kit

A kit is for the bad week. The rest of the year runs on something duller. Tiger milk mushroom is the Malaysian one: the national Malaysian Herbal Monograph records that "Traditionally, Lignosus spp has been used for coughs and colds", filed under uses described in folk medicine, not supported by experimental or clinical data. Twenty years of mushroom learning and cultivation taught me to quote that filing exactly, and to start the habit before a season rather than in the middle of one.

Frequently asked questions

Is a surgical mask good enough for haze?

Not the same thing, and nobody can tell you what you are getting from one. What is documented is the failure mode: the EPA fact sheet says masks with ear loops are not designed to seal tightly to the face and will not protect your lungs from smoke. A respirator with two head straps and a checked seal is the item to pack.

How many masks should a family keep?

Enough that nobody reuses a dirty one to avoid opening the last packet. The EPA rule is to throw a respirator away when it gets harder to breathe through or when it gets dirty, so count outings rather than days.

Do we need one air cleaner per room?

No, and spreading them thin is the common mistake. The EPA's guidance is to size the machine to the room and put it where people spend the most time. For most households that is one bedroom with the door closed overnight.

At what API should we keep the children home from outdoor activities?

The Department of Environment advises limited outdoor activities for high risk people once the API passes 100, and defines high risk as people with heart and lung complications. Children are not in that definition, so the decision belongs to you and, if asthma or another lung condition is in the picture, to their doctor.

About TYGRON®

TYGRON® by ORGANO is a tiger milk mushroom functional food taken daily by families in Malaysia and Singapore. It holds the Malaysia Book of Records for the highest 1,3/1,6 beta-glucan content in tiger milk mushroom in Malaysia. 1,3/1,6 beta-glucan is the most important active compound and quality benchmark in tiger milk mushroom, and a higher content signals greater potency and quality. TYGRON® is formulated in Australia, designed by our Sydney-based team (Fungitech Australia Pty Ltd) to one of the world's most stringent functional-food standards, then manufactured in Malaysia under GMP, HACCP and Halal-certified conditions. Why TYGRON® is formulated in Australia.

About the author

Written and reviewed by Boey Tze Zhou, Founder and CEO of ORGANO. Boey holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (First Class Honours) from Universiti Putra Malaysia and completed Stanford University's Introduction to Food and Health and the University of Minnesota's Integrative Health and Medicine specialization (including Herbal Medicine) through Coursera. Across 20 years of mushroom learning and cultivation, he developed the TMM365+ slow-grown method behind the Malaysia Book of Records beta-glucan certification held by Fungitech Sdn Bhd. Read more about the founder

Sources

• US Environmental Protection Agency, Protect Your Lungs From Wildfire Smoke and Ash, EPA-452/F-26-004 (2026)
• US Environmental Protection Agency, Wildfires and Indoor Air Quality, last updated 2 September 2026
• Department of Environment Malaysia, General Information of Air Pollutant Index
• American Lung Association, State of the Air 2026, Populations at Risk, 23 April 2026
• Malaysian Herbal Monograph, Lignosus rhinocerus

This article is general information, not medical advice. TYGRON® is a functional food. If symptoms are severe or persistent, please see a doctor. TYGRON® and the ORGANO logo are registered trademarks of Fungitech Sdn Bhd, registered in Malaysia.