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Working towards the National Standards

In late 2004, the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) awarded a contract for $1.2M per year, for four years, to a consortium of researchers led by NIWA.  The contract “Protecting New Zealand’s Clean Air” intends to assist “local authorities meet current and future air quality standards, through access to science information and tools that determine the current state of their air quality, identify mitigation options and monitor their implementation and the resulting air quality”.

This research programme is overseen by a research advisory group made up of representatives from the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport, Transit New Zealand and key regional councils.  Outputs from the programme are available on the NIWA website.

Impacts of Air Pollution in New Zealand

The Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand study, published in July 2007, shows that air pollution is associated with around 1,100 cases of premature mortality – that is people dying earlier than they would have if they had not been exposed to air pollution.

It is estimated that the effects from air pollution occur throughout New Zealand – not just in the main cities.  The primary sources are home heating nationally, transport in Auckland, and industry.

Other illness caused by air pollution include:

  • around 1,500 extra cases of bronchitis and related illnesses
  • 700 extra hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiac illnesses
  • 1.9 million restricted activity days (days on which people cannot do the things they might otherwise have done if air pollution was not present).

The bulk of effects are associated with particulate pollution (PM10), but there are also effects associated with other pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.

The total economic costs of air pollution in New Zealand (from both premature death and adverse health impacts) are estimated to be $1.14 billion per year or $421 per person.

A significant component of the study was the development of a new air pollution exposure model for New Zealand.  The model covers 67 urban areas or 73% of the total population and has been validated against monitoring data provided by all regional councils. 

This new model is a valuable resource for regional councils as it provides realistic exposure estimates for centres where monitoring data is not available. 

The full report is available on the HAPiNZ website.


Last updated: 17 July 2009