Invercargill records first air quality exceedance for 2025

Invercargill recorded its first exceedance of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality over the weekend.

On Sunday 8 June, the Pomona Street monitoring site recorded a 24-hour average PM10 concentration of 54 micrograms/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air), over the standards’ threshold of 50 micrograms/m3.

Environment Southland team leader air and terrestrial science Nick Talbot said the sudden onset of colder weather meant people were now burning more to keep warm and may have not had the time to get an adequate dry wood supply.

“Smoke released into urban areas from home fires isn’t easily dispersed on those cool, still nights causing localised air pollution and you can smell it in the air.

“The smell is from tiny particulates in the air; these can easily penetrate into the lungs, placing stress on people's health, especially for those who are more susceptible to health complications, such as children, the elderly and others with respiratory conditions,” he said.

“Remember, outdoor smoke easily makes its way into other people's houses, so the way you burn affects your neighbours and neighbourhood.”

This winter, Environment Southland is trialling sending precautionary Antenno alerts to Invercargill residents if there’s a prediction that the weather conditions could push the PM10 levels over the threshold.

The first alert was sent on Saturday morning, and between 6pm and 9pm that evening, PM10 levels were above 50 micrograms/m3 .

“It was a timely reminder for those planning activities during that time, like walking the dog, to encourage them to take extra precautions or adjust the timing of these activities to avoid this peak pollution time.”

Download the Antenno app from your app store to receive these sorts of notifications in the future.

ENDS

For more information, contact the communications team on 0800 76 88 45.