Air quality levels in the Auckland region have been tainted as bushfires in Australia continue to burn.
Auckland Council says air quality monitors for the region delivered measurements just above the National Environmental Standard on December 6, because of smoke from the large bushfires in New South Wales.
Shanju Xie, an air quality expert with Auckland Council, says monitors at three sites recorded high PM10 concentrations, the measurements for particulates in the air.
The PM10 are tiny particles that are invisible to the human eye and can affect health, especially in asthmatics and people with heart and lung disease.
“Westerly winds can transport the plume across the Tasman Sea to Auckland and other areas of New Zealand,” says Mr Xie.
He said typically the smoke plume remains high but it can cause elevated levels of fine particles at ground level, as it did a couple weeks ago.
Levels have since returned to what Mr Xie deems "normal", much lower than the health-based standards.
“However, we will continue to keep an eye on results while the bushfires continue to burn,” he said.
Councillor Linda Cooper says under Resource Management Act requirements, the council is required to report any breach of National Environment Standards.
“Believe it or not, this doesn’t happen very often in our region,” said Ms Cooper.
Last week smoke across parts of the Sydney basin was so thick air pollution had been deemed 11 times worse than the typical "hazardous" level.
Medical experts deemed the air quality in Sydney among the worst on record because of the fires.
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