Abstract for presentation at 14th IUAPPA World Congress

Purpose: The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has been given the remit to ensure that the air quality of Otago meets the National Environmental Standard (NES) Regulations (2004). The main driver for the NES is to protect public health and therefore a study has been carried out by Public Health South (PHS) into the effects of air quality on public health.
Methodology: For the purposes of the NES the Council monitors PM₁₀ levels at five permanent recording sites located in towns which have a risk of breaching the NES. PHS have assessed these data and compared hospital admissions for respiratory ailments. Age variation between resident populations was removed by standardisation of rates.
Results: Council’s monitoring program shows several locations within Otago where PM₁₀ levels exceed the standard set down in the NES legislation. The highest number of exceedances occurs in towns with specific geographical and climatic conditions which encourage ‘inversion layers’ to develop. A study into the effect of air quality in Otago on public health found that hospitalisation rates for selected respiratory ailments are significantly higher for residents of high air pollution areas than for residents of low air pollution areas.
Conclusion: Otago’s air quality is generally very good, however domestic heating in towns with inversion layers developing during winter can result in very poor air quality. A clear statistical link has been found between respiratory hospital admissions and high PM₁₀ levels. The ORC plans to improve air quality by a mix of legislation, education, and encouraging local community involvement.