Hon David Benson-Pope
- 12/07/2007 Air pollution from home heating,
transport and industry causes almost 1,100
premature deaths in New Zealand each year
and costs around $1.1 billion a year, according
to a Government-funded study released today
by Environment Minister David Benson-Pope
and Associate Transport Minister Judith
Tizard.
The Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand
(HAPiNZ) study shows that the highest cost
of air pollution is premature death caused
by long-term exposure to air pollutants.
The main source of air pollution nationally
is home heating, with transport being the
primary source in Auckland.
"We are repeatedly seeing the damage
air pollution does to human health, society
and the economy. These effects are felt
throughout the country, from towns such
as Timaru to cities such as Auckland. We
have recently seen improvements to air quality
in some areas, such as Christchurch, but
this report shows how important it is for
all councils to progressively work towards
meeting national air quality standards by
2013," said Mr Benson-Pope.
A number of Government initiatives have
already been implemented to address air
pollution including:
Agreed national environmental standards,
introduced in 2004, to improve air quality
by 2013,
Transport measures to reduce harmful emissions,
and
Major new sustainable housing initiatives
such as the New Zealand wide Warm Homes
project, or regional initiatives such as
Environment Canterbury's Clean Heat programme
Five years ago the Ministry of Transport
commissioned a study on the impacts of air
pollution on public health . Since then
the Ministry has been developing policies
to reduce harmful vehicle emissions and
their effects on New Zealanders.
"This new report confirms that the
Government must continue to take a hard
line on tackling transport emissions and
that the work we are doing must continue
if we are to see a measurable improvement,"
said Ms Tizard.
The HAPiNZ study attributes an overall
cost of $1.1 billion to the number of premature
deaths from air pollution each year as well
as other less obvious public health implications
such as days spent in bed, days missed from
work, and restricted activities due to illness.
"A number of successful and significant
Government initiatives have been undertaken
to improve New Zealand’s air. For example,
the Government has just committed $72 million
over the next four years for energy efficiency
measures including funding to help New Zealand
families live in warm, dry, healthy-homes
that have clean and efficient heating,"
said Mr Benson-Pope.
A number of measures have also been introduced
in the transport sector to reduce vehicle
emissions:
a visible smoke check is now part of the
warrant or certificate of fitness test
proposed changes to the Vehicle Exhaust
Emissions Rule to improve the standard of
vehicles entering the New Zealand fleet
improved fuel quality
new fuel specifications and,
the Biofuels Sales Obligation
"The Government has made some big
in-roads to improving our air quality, but
there is still a lot more work to do,"
said Ms Tizard.
The HAPiNZ study, which was completed over
four years, examined 67 urban areas and
included 73 per cent of New Zealand’s population.
The $1 million study was jointly funded
by the Health Research Council of New Zealand,
the Ministry for the Environment, and the
Ministry of Transport, with support in kind
from the Ministry of Health and regional
councils.
For a copy of the report: www.hapinz.org.nz
Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand
The Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand
study, published in July 2007, shows that
air pollution is associated with around
1,100 cases of premature mortality – that
is people dying earlier than they would
have if they had not been exposed to air
pollution.
It is estimated that the effects from air
pollution occur throughout New Zealand –
not just in the main cities. The primary
sources are home heating nationally, transport
in Auckland, and industry.
Other illness caused by air pollution include:
around 1,500 extra cases of bronchitis
and related illnesses
700 extra hospital admissions for respiratory
and cardiac illnesses
1.9 million restricted activity days (days
on which people cannot do the things they
might otherwise have done if air pollution
was not present).
The bulk of effects are associated with
particulate pollution (PM10), but there
are also effects associated with other pollutants,
such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide
and volatile organic compounds.
The total economic costs of air pollution
in New Zealand (from both premature death
and adverse health impacts) are estimated
to be $1.14 billion per year or $421 per
person.
A significant component of the study was
the development of a new air pollution exposure
model for New Zealand. The model covers
67 urban areas or 73% of the total population
and has been validated against monitoring
data provided by all regional councils.
This new model is a valuable resource for
regional councils as it provides realistic
exposure estimates for centres where monitoring
data is not available.
The full report is available on the HAPiNZ
website.
Government actions to counter air pollution
The HAPiNZ study is based on 2001 data and
since that time the population has grown
by about 17%. A number of significant Government
initiatives have commenced since 2001 to
address air pollution including:
National environmental standards for air
quality
Changes to fuel specifications and emission
standards for vehicles
Ministry for the Environment Warm Homes
project
Budget 2007 funding for energy efficiency
in homes and public transport.
Background to the HAPiNZ study
The HAPiNZ study was commissioned, in 2003,
by the Health Research Council of New Zealand,
the Ministry and the Ministry of Transport
with in-kind support from regional councils.
The study aimed to:
Identify effects of air pollution throughout
New Zealand and to link the health effects
to various sources of pollutants
Confirm preliminary research that concluded
New Zealanders are suffering significant
adverse health effects because of exposure
to outdoor air pollution
Incorporate up-to-date air quality monitoring,
health data and exposure modelling
Refine existing analysis techniques and
apply new techniques to produce more accurate
results
Carry out economic impact assessments and
develop potential policy options to improve
health
Assess potential effects in previously unstudied
areas.
The HAPiNZ contract was awarded to the
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Science. The three-year study commenced
in 2003 and was published in 2007.
The study was split into two parts; an
initial pilot study for Christchurch (results
below) followed by a national study for
New Zealand (see above). The study examined
67 urban areas and included 73 percent of
New Zealand’s population.
Pilot Study for Christchurch
The Pilot Study focussed on Christchurch
because there was already significant information
on air pollution levels and population exposures.
Key findings of the pilot study for Christchurch
are as follows:
Exposure to PM10 is estimated to cause
116 premature deaths per year in over 30
year olds (82 caused by emissions from domestic
heating, 18 by industrial emissions and
16 by vehicle emissions).
PM10 is further estimated to cause 52 cases
of chronic bronchitis as well as 247 cases
of acute cardiac and respiratory admissions.
Other health effects caused by pollutants
(including contaminants such as carbon dioxide
and benzene) are estimated to result in
1.6 cases of leukaemia cancer per year and
285,000 restricted activity days per year.
The total costs of air pollution in Christchurch
are estimated as $136M per year ($95M from
domestic heating emissions, $19M from Vehicle
and $22M from industrial emissions). This
equates to $430 per person.
The most sensitive individuals include
older people (particularly over 65s), infants
(particularly under 1s), asthmatics and
people with bronchitis, people with other
respiratory problems, and people that are
health compromised in other ways such as
those with heart disease.
A number of policy options for emission
reductions from the domestic, transport
and industrial sectors were examined. These
underscored, in particular, the need for
the actions proposed by Environment Canterbury
as part of their Regional Air Plan to meet
the national environmental standards for
air quality by 2013.
The greatest health impacts, and costs,
occur due to pre-mature mortality caused
by long-term exposure to fine particles
from combustion sources (mainly home heating
and vehicle emissions).
The Christchurch Pilot Study report is available
on the HAPiNZ website.
