In October 2004, the Ministry for the Environment introduced the National Environmental Standards (NES) for Air Quality. The NES includes five standards for ambient (outdoor) air quality. These and other New Zealand guidelines are described in Table 1 below.
The criteria applied to TSP, 60 µg/m3 (seven-day average), was previously applied by the Ministry of Health. This has been superseded by the Ministry for the Environment's Ambient Air Quality Guidelines but is useful for analysing the results of the monitoring data.
Table 1: National Environmental Standards, guidelines and regional targets
| Air pollutant | National Environmental Standards 2004 | Ministry for the Environment Ambient Air Quality Guidelines 2002 and other | Averaging period | National Environmental Standards permissible excess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon monoxide | 10 mg/m3 | 8-hour average | One 8-hour period in a 12-month period | |
| 30 mg/m3 | 1-hour average | |||
| Nitrogen dioxide | 100 µg/m3 | 24-hour average | ||
| 200 µg/m3 | 1-hour average | 9 hours in a 12-month period | ||
| Sulphur dioxide | 120 µg/m3 | 24-hour average | ||
| 350 µg/m3 | 1-hour average | 9 hours in a 12-month period | ||
| 570 µg/m3 | 1-hour average | Not to be exceeded at any time | ||
| Benzene | ||||
| - Year 2000 | 10 µg/m3 | Annual average | ||
| - Year 2010 | 3.6 µg/m3 | Annual average | ||
| 1,3-Butadiene | 2.4 µg/m3 | Annual average | ||
| Fine particulate (PM10) | 20 µg/m3 | Annual average | ||
| 50 µg/m3 | 50 µg/m3 | 24-hour average | One 24-hour period in a 12-month period | |
| Total suspended particulates (TSP) | 60 µg/m3 (DoH)2 | 7-day average | ||
| Lead | 0.2 µg/m3 | 3-month average |
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4 Ambient Air Quality Guidelines and Standards
June 2006
© Ministry for the Environment