Air pollution report queried by council
Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell is asking for more information relating to a report that says Invercargill has the most premature deaths as a result of air pollution per capita in the country.
The Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand 3.0 report, produced by Emission Impossible Ltd, estimated air pollution in New Zealand was responsible for 3300 premature deaths per year according to 2016 data.
Horrell said his council would look at the report closely, including where exactly the data was taken from, particularly in regard to nitrous dioxide given Invercargill had no issues with vehicle congestion on roads or highways in the south.
‘‘Unless it’s been taken from the bypass in Invercargill it doesn’t quite add up,’’ he said.
The report was the first to take into account the health effects of nitrous dioxide, he said, and had revealed the gas had a higher impact on human health than originally thought.
The council would be reviewing its air pollution strategy as a result, he said.
‘‘We’ll ask for a report to come to council,’’ he said.
The premature deaths had been calculated by looking at 2016 census data, the base rate of hospitalisations and maps of the concentration of air pollutants. It also considered death rates, taking out factors such as smoking to see what premature deaths could be attributed to air pollution.
However, in the methodology of the report it says ‘‘because the impacts are contributory, individual deaths cannot be attributed directly to air pollution’’.
The report says Invercargill City had the most premature deaths from vehicle exhaust and domestic fire combined in people over the age of 30
‘‘Unless it’s been taken from the bypass in Invercargill it doesn’t quite add up.’’ Nicol Horrell Environment Southland chairman
per 100,000 people in New Zealand.
This was taken from data which estimated 74 people over the age of 30 had died prematurely due to air pollution in Invercargill in 2016.
All regions were modelled on an average of having 100,000 to create a standardised model for comparison.
The 2018 census put Invercargill’s population at 54,204.
Project lead Dr Gerda Kuschel said combining data for vehicle exhaust pollutants and domestic fire pollutants had put Invercargill at the top of the country for premature deaths.
The report had been peerreviewed by international experts, leading Kuschel to believe with a high degree of confidence that the estimated 74 deaths in people over the age of 30 due to air pollution in Invercargill city in 2016 was accurate.
Environment Southland air quality scientist Owen West said it had seen some improvement in PM10 and PM2.5 levels since 2016.
Its Regional Air Plan 2016 had introduced a series of phase outs for older burners in homes and solid fuel cooking stoves, he said, but it would take ‘‘some time’’ to see the results in air pollution data.
The new evidence around the health effects of motor vehicle air pollution was concerning, he said.
‘‘It’s very evident that there are significant concerns about reducing those.’’
The report was prepared for the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Health, Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.