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Source: ONE News -
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The World Health Organisation's estimates of New Zealand's air quality are being challenged by the Government.
A WHO report out this week has been critical of the country's air quality saying Auckland has New Zealand's worst air pollution, which is at levels nearly double that of Sydney.
But Environment Minister Nick Smith said that is contrary to all the data which shows our biggest problem is in Christchurch.
He said the WHO figures differ to air quality data collected by regional councils and appear to be much higher than what the Ministry of Environment reports say.
Smith said officials are contacting the WHO to clarify how its figures were calculated.
But Canterbury University air pollution and health expert Simon Kingham told TV ONE's Breakfast that WHO knows what it is talking about.
"The results are from published data so I doubt the WHO have got their data wrong," he said.
Kingham said the findings will be the result of an annual average, with seasonal changes factored in.
"In Christchurch and South Island cities we get much higher levels in winter from the wood burners, but much lower in summer, in Auckland it's much more consistent across the whole year," he said.
He said the Government needs to look at restrictions on wood burners and vehicle emissions if it is serious about clearing the air.
In the survey all of Australia's major cities do better than New Zealand cities, including Melbourne which is currently the world's most liveable city - a title Mayor Len Brown wants Auckland to hold.
However, New Zealand air is much cleaner than that of Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia, but a lot worse than Canada.
The figures come after an Auckland Council report in July that showed more than 700 Aucklanders are killed by air pollution every year.
It said Auckland's air quality was poor, with levels of particulate matter in the air regularly exceeding national environmental standards.
The WHO published air quality data for 1100 cities across 91 countries, focussing on an air pollution measurement known as PM10, a level of airborne particles smaller than 10 micrometres.
WHO air quality guidelines for PM10 is 20 micrograms per cubic metre as an annual average.
Auckland has 23 ?g/m3 in 2009, the latest available data, with Hamilton 22, Wellington 21, Christchurch 20 and Dunedin 19.
Overall, New Zealand scored at 22.
Australia overall scored 13 g/m3 with Brisbane top on 18, Port Phillip (Melbourne) 13, Sydney 12 and Canberra 10.
Auckland's score of 23 was shared by Hamburg in Germany, Reykjavik in Iceland and Tokyo in Japan.
Dunedin's low score was the same as Salt Lake City in the US.
The cleanest urban air in the world was Yukon's state capital Whitehouse, in Canada, on three, followed by fellow nationals in Kitimat on four.
The most polluted city in the world was Ahwaz, Iran, on 372, followed by Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia on 279 and Delhi, India, 198.
Cities in Pakistan and India, such as Quetta and Kanpur, as well as Botswana's capital Gaborone, also ranked high on the pollution scale.
Other major cities measured included Washington 18 and New York 21, Berlin 26, London 29, Paris 38, Johannesburg 66 and Beijing 121.
WHO said outdoor air pollution causes an estimated 1.34 million premature deaths a year. Investments to lower pollution levels quickly pay off owing to lower disease rates and, therefore, lower healthcare costs, it said.
In its study, WHO said persistently elevated levels of fine particle pollution are common across many urban areas.
Fine particle pollution often originates from combustion sources such as power plants and vehicles.
"Air pollution is a major environmental health issue and it is vital that we increase efforts to reduce the health burden it creates," said Dr Maria Neira, WHO director for public health and environment.
"If we monitor and manage the environment properly we can significantly reduce the number of people suffering from respiratory and heart disease, and lung cancer.
"Across the world, city air is often thick with exhaust fumes, factory smoke or soot from coal burning power plants. In many countries there are no air quality regulations and, where they do exist, national standards and their enforcement vary markedly."
- with Fairfax and Newstalk ZB
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