Air Quality in New Zealand and Overseas

Air Pollution - How are we doing? A standard measurement of urban air pollution is the amount of particulate matter in the air. 13 Whangarei PM10 is an air pollutant of concern as it is associated with harmful Auckland 15 health effects and is easily inhaled and absorbed into the lungs Hamilton 13 18 Rotorua Taumarunui 15 D Finest beach sand 90 um 18 Napier Human Hair 50µm 18 PM10 particles 10µm each 11 Nelson Wellington A PM10 particle is less than 10 microns in diameter, or less than one-fifth of the 17 diameter of a human hair Christchurch 32 Timaru Estonia Canada Australia New Zealand USA WHO safe cutoff 20 ug/m³ 25 Dunedin Japan UK 24 France Spain Invercargill Russia Italy Argetina Brazil Particulate matter is measured as the amount in micrograms (ug) of PM10 particles per cubic metre (m³) of air. S. Africa Mexico S. Korea China The numbers shown in circles Egypt Pakistan represent the annual average PM10 values (ug/m³) for each city or town. Mongolia 50 100 150 200 250 3 PM10 concentration in ug/m³ Graphic: Science Media Centre | Data (2010): World Health Organisation; Ministry for the Environment. wew