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Monitoring air quality in New Zealand

The air we breathe

Every day we take about 26,000 breaths, and breathe in about 14,000 litres of air (equivalent to about 150 full bathtubs). If that air contains pollution, we breathe it into our bodies and it can affect our health.

New Zealand has good air quality in most places most of the time. But some places experience air pollution that can be harmful to health. Research shows that over 1000 New Zealanders a year die early because of the effects of air pollution. It’s important that we improve the air quality where needed so we can help prevent those deaths and maintain the long-term sustainability of New Zealand’s environment.

Small particles of pollution in the air come from sources such as wood burners, car exhausts and industry. They can cause health problems, such as making breathing problems like asthma and bronchitis worse. They can make heart problems worse too.

PM10 – small but deadly

One kind of small particle that can cause health problems is called PM10. These particles are too tiny to see – five particles would fit across a strand of human hair – but they can be deadly. The number of New Zealanders who die early from pollution caused by traffic is similar to the number killed in road accidents each year.

About 30 places around New Zealand have high levels of PM10 each year, especially in winter when people are using fires and wood burners. Larger cities such as Christchurch are affected, but so are small towns such as Reefton that only has 990 people but has high levels of PM10 in winter. Auckland also has high levels of PM10 from home heating in winter and from road traffic throughout the year.

National standards for keeping our air clean

In September 2005, the Government brought in the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality to help make our air cleaner. Regional councils have identified areas where air quality may not meet the standards or may need management in the future. These areas are called ‘airsheds’.

If levels of PM10 in the airsheds are higher than the limits allowed by the standards, the councils must take action to make the PM10 levels lower.

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This map shows the 7 airsheds in the Canterbury Region. They are: Rangiora; Kaiapoi; Christchurch A,B,C,D,E; Ashburton; Geraldine; Timaru; Waimate.

Cleaning up our air

PM10 testing - Photo courtesy of Taranaki Regional Council.

By 2013, PM10 levels must be below the safe level set by the standards or councils will not be able to grant resource consents for discharges of PM10. The standards say that councils must:

  • monitor PM10 levels in polluted airsheds
  • tell the public every time there have been high levels of  PM10 in the airshed
  • improve PM10 levels by ensuring industrial activity produces less PM10
  • make sure that new wood burners installed in houses are clean-burning and efficient.

Councils also have plans to reduce the PM10 levels in their airsheds. How they do this will depend on what is causing the pollution in their area.

 

How we are working with councils

The Ministry for the Environment reports on levels of PM10 pollution in airsheds across the country using monitoring information gathered by regional councils. We publish annual summaries of these pollution levels on our website.

Find out about PM10 levels in your area.

What you can do to make the air cleaner