Monitoring air quality in our smaller towns

Temporary winter-time air quality monitoring in our smaller towns – Brightwater, Wakefield, Murchison, Tākaka

Background 

The Council has a ‘surveillance’ work programme in place to better understand air quality in some of our smaller towns – Brightwater and Wakefield, Murchison and Tākaka. Working with Mote Limited, a work programme has been developed to undertake temporary winter-time monitoring using a network of ‘dustmote’ sensors (Met One ES642 near-forward nephelometers) which are suitable for research purposes.

The National Environmental Standards for Air Quality only requires the identification and monitoring of airsheds where air quality standards are likely to be breached.  Completion of this surveillance monitoring will inform the Council and community if there is a need for ongoing monitoring and to introduce management tools. 

National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES-AQ) 

The NES-AQ has been under review for several years. There is a standard for PM10 (particulate matter), but there are currently no standards or guidelines in New Zealand for PM2.5. More recent international investigations suggest that greater focus should be placed on the management of smaller particles, PM2.5, as these are typically more harmful and are more controllable, given their greater apportionment to anthropogenic sources relative to PM10.  For this reason, Council’s surveillance air quality monitoring programme is focusing on PM2.5, in anticipation of future legislative requirements to monitor and manage PM2.5.  In the interim, Council is using the World Health Organisation’s PM2.5 guidelines as a comparison.  

Next steps

There are currently no standards in New Zealand for PM2.5.  However, the surveillance monitoring will ensure that we are well informed to make decisions regarding PM2.5 monitoring and management options once the review of the NES-AQ is completed.  The NES-AQ only requires the identification and monitoring of airsheds where air quality standards are likely to be breached.

Staff will continue to provide district wide education and best practice advice regarding home heating and outdoor burning as part of the Council’s wider air quality work programme.

For more information on this monitoring programme, please contact Anna MacKenzie (Resource Scientist - Contaminants) or Diana Worthy (Team Leader – Natural Resources Policy). 

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