Masterton’s air quality failed to meet National Environmental Standards three times last winter. Wood fires in the Wairarapa, Upper Hutt and Wainuiomata are big contributors to air pollution. Greater Wellington monitors air quality throughout the region with six permanent monitoring stations – one in inner city Wellington and the others in suburban areas – as well as two mobile units for monitoring traffic emissions. “Now that winter is underway, we need to take care with wood fires,” says Greater Wellington’s Air Quality Scientist Tamsin Mitchell. Fine particles (a type of air pollution known as PM10) from wood fires can worsen asthma; irritate eyes, throat and lungs; and make people with respiratory problems and heart disease more ill. “Last winter we studied Wainuiomata’s air pollution and found that domestic fires were responsible for 91% of PM10 emissions on an average winter day,” says Tamsin. Wainuiomata resident Janice Denney says she can sometimes smell the air pollution in the valley. “Some people burn stuff that’s smelly and smoky, like paper and plastics – they mistake their woodburner for a garbage incinerator!” Janice and her family use woodburners to warm their home. She burns wood clean and hot, and doesn’t use wet wood because that increases air pollution. “We usually dry our wood for a couple of years, rather than buying it when winter arrives. We’ve also insulated every nook and cranny in the house, and we keep the heat in with thick drapes.” National Environmental Standards for outdoor air quality, which came into force in 2005, mean that if you replace your woodburner, you must upgrade to a more efficient model that releases lower levels of PM10. By doing this and following these simple steps, you can help reduce air pollution and stay warm this winter: - Use dry wood. This gives more heat and causes less pollution
- Don’t leave your fire smouldering overnight. This causes pollution
- Never burn rubbish and treated/painted timber. They release toxic chemicals
- Insulate floors and ceilings
- Use thick or thermal curtains to reduce heat loss through windows.
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