Clean, Green New Zealand. Keeping The Home Fires Burning, Air Pollution Warning Issued

This may be of interest to asthma suffers thinking that New Zealand's Clean, Green environment may provide some relief from their condition.

New Zealand has the world's second highest prevalence of asthma in the world (source Asthma and Respiratory Foundation) with hospital admission rates for asthma doubling in 30 years.

Some locations often fail air quality standards. For instance Mosgiel fails air quality PM10 standards about 8 times a year. See warning on Mosgiel pollution. The pollution is caused mainly by domestic heating appliances although one emission source in the north east of the town contributes about 7% to the total.

Other towns are said to have breached the national standard more frequently- Arrowtown has failed 29 times and Milton 19.

In June Environment Minister Nick Smith admitted that 10 NZ cities and towns were unlikely to meet air quality targets by the year 2013, he said that the overwhelming proportion of pollution is caused by home fires, and to a lesser extent vehicles.

About two third of New Zealanders live in locations where they are exposed to air pollution but it's a significant problem in some some areas. Approximately 1,100 people die prematurely in urban areas from air pollution every year

For the effects of this type of pollution and comments about the problem being compounded by 'scarily cold houses' see NZ's high winter death rate and burning wood to keep warm.

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10 NZ Cities & Towns Unlikely To Meet Air Quality Standards By 2013

The Environment Minister Nick Smith admitted Wednesday that 10 NZ cities and towns are unlikely to meet air quality targets by the year 2013, saying that the overwhelming proportion of pollution is caused by home fires, and to a lesser extent vehicles.

For the effects of this type of pollution in NZ see NZ's high winter death rate and burning wood to keep warm.

In 2007 the 10 highest concentrations of PM10s were at the following sampling shed locations (see graph below)
Auckland
Rotorua
Christchurch
Kaiapoi
Nelson A
Nelaon B
Otago 1
Rangiora
Reefton
Timaru

So the goal posts are to going to be moved.

In a press release announcing a review of the terms of reference for a review of particulate air pollution standards the following statement was made:

"Dr Smith released (yesterday) the terms of reference and technical advisory group for a review of the national environmental standards for particulate air pollution under the Resource Management Act. The review delivers on National's pre-election commitment and on concerns raised at the Jobs Summit.

"We are at the halfway mark between when the standards were set in 2005 and when they must be complied with by 2013 so it makes good sense to review progress. Air quality is critical to New Zealanders health and our clean green reputation. We are committed to ongoing improvements but want to ensure we have the policy and timetable right.

"We are making good progress in many parts of New Zealand in reducing air pollution but there are 10 cities and towns including Auckland and Christchurch that are unlikely to meet the standards by 2013.

"The implications for industry and employment are very serious as no renewed or new consents are allowed in air catchments where the standard is not met by 2013.

"The review needs to look at whether it is fair to solely punish industry for non-compliance when the overwhelming pollution is caused by home fires and, to a lesser degree, vehicles. It will also look at the costs and benefits of the air standard and the optimal timetable for achieving improvements.

"It also needs to take into account the Government's significant $323 million commitment to home insulation and clean heating grants to assist Councils and households reduce energy waste and pollution."

Read more here: PM10 review

Poor outdoor air quality is a significant issue in some areas of New Zealand, about two thirds of New Zealanders live in locations where they experience air pollution. Approx 1,100 people die prematurely in urban areas from air pollution every year

Highest 24-hour PM₁₀ concentration in New Zealand airsheds, 2007

Click on image to enlarge

New Zealand's High Winter Death Rate And Burning Wood To Keep Warm

The University of Otago published a report last year stating that NZ was in the upper end of an international scale for excess winter mortality (EWM) and that 1600 more people died over the winter months than the summer (On overage, 600 more deaths occurred in July compared to February) and that this high EWM had remained pretty constant for the last 20 years.

Otago's Associate Professor Michael Baker reported that NZ's EWM is 2% higher than the mean mortality rates of 14 European countries, even though many of those countries had lower winter temperatures than New Zealand. Why is that?

He said "One theory is that countries like Canada, Norway and Russia have such cold winters that people have developed better insulated houses and other strategies to survive winter. More temperate countries like New Zealand, Ireland and Portugal have a higher EWM because we are less well adapted to cold conditions."

The report concluded that further research was needed:

"EWM in NZ is substantial and at the upper end of the range observed internationally. Interventions to reduce EWM are important, but the surprising lack of variation in EWM by ethnicity, region and deprivation, provides little guidance for how such mortality can be reduced. More targeted research is needed to explore a number of other possible factors that could be contributing to EWM, including the role of climate, influenza, behaviour, crowding in winter, levels of home heating & thermal performance of houses."

Other recent studies seem to confirm that there is a significant problem with the condition of many houses in New Zealand with poor insulation, damp and mould having serious effects on human health.

A year earlier Professor Robert Vale, a sustainable architecture expert, said he was "appalled" by the state of New Zealand's houses. In his opinion even New Zealand's most ecologically advanced houses were 40 years behind European cutting-edge eco-houses:
"In terms of energy efficient houses we are not very far along. It's pretty much where the Scandinavians were in the 1960s."

"Scarily Cold" HousesVale emigrated to New Zealand 13 years ago and described the average New Zealand house as "scarily cold", badly insulated, with huge expanses of single-glazed glass and a nightmare to heat. He and his wife were expecting a country that was environmentally advanced but instead found a country with little interest in sustainability."It's not what we expected, with New Zealand's clean green image and the anti-nuclear thing."

Vale pointed out 17 houses that are being promoted as paragons of energy efficiency on the Building and Research Association of New Zealand's website. These were supposed to be zero and low energy houses but more than two thirds used more energy than the average NZ house, one used 57,000KWh in a year - 5 times the average of 11,000KWh per year.

One large Lyttelton house with a floor area of 330 sq m, used little electricity but more than 53,000KWh worth of firewood each year whilst another promoted as a zero energy home used an LPG heater and a log burner with a wetback.

NZ's Houses Compared to Refugee Camp Huts
According to a health expert 3 out of 4 homes in some regions of New Zealand were so cold, damp and mouldy that they were on a par with refugee camp huts. Associate Professor Jeroen Douwes of Massey University cited a 2005 study, that found mould in 75 per cent of the 1310 households surveyed.

University of Otago public health researcher Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman said New Zealand's high asthma rate could well be related to the incidence of damp houses.

Up to one in five New Zealanders suffer the chronic and sometimes life-threatening respiratory condition. Wellington's Asthma Research Group has found that asthmatics allergic to mould had much more severe symptoms, and were almost twice as likely to end up in intensive care.

Health Ruined in Quarter of a Million Homes
Another study estimated that occupants' health has been ruined in 250,000 New Zealand homes and that both old and new houses were affected. The houses were so cold, damp and poorly built that they caused serious health problems. It's estimated that it would cost $20 billion to put it right.

Air Pollution
The Ministry of the Environment has said that poor air quality is a significant issue in some areas of New Zealand and that two thirds of the population live in areas that can experience air pollution.

It's estimated that 1,100 people die prematurely in urban areas from air pollution and that most poor air quality is caused by high winter levels of particulate matter (PM₁₀) from wood and coal used for home heating. Auckland also experiences high levels of PM₁₀ from road transport.