Council blames traffic for missing Auckland air pollution targets

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

Transport continues to be the main source of air pollution in Auckland.

A growing population and persistent addiction to cars has continued to pollute Auckland's air.

Researchers behind Auckland Council's inventory of air pollution identified a marked reduction in pollutants, however in the latest data analysis the city is still falling behind targets set in 2012.

Council air quality scientist Shanju Xie said the rising number of cars on the road had made the targeted 50 per cent reduction of certain air pollutants too difficult to achieve.

'Why we didn't met our targets? The main reason is population growth. The number of vehicles on our roads.'

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While new vehicles have improved emissions output and a greater number of people were using public transport, emissions from transport were still an issue, Xie said.

'Because the population increased as a whole, we are driving more, as a whole.'

Four inventory reports released in recent months by the council have examined the sources of air pollution in Auckland in 2016 - in industry, transport, home heating and sea transport.

Xie was preparing a larger summary report that would be released later this year.

Air quality in New Zealand was measured by the levels of particulate matters (PM), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and volatile organic compounds.

The 2012 Auckland Plan included the goal of reducing pollution across the board, with a focus on the finer particulates PM2.5 and PM10.

While the Auckland inventories pinpointed significant reduction in the PM2.5, particularly from industry sources, there was a slower reduction in PM10.

Xie said that while the council had failed to meet its 2012 targets, Auckland's air quality was now sitting within national requirements.

According to the Ministry for Environment, all but one of the 72 designated air spaces across New Zealand have the potential to breech national standards on PM10 levels.

Air pollution had both an economic and health impact across the country.

An estimated 1000 people died each year due to air pollution related illnesses according to data published by research group Environmental Health Indicators New Zealand.

Around 260 of these were in Auckland.

The World Health Organisation has estimated 4.2 million premature deaths globally are linked to air pollution, primarily from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections in children.