HAPINZ 3.0: A TALE OF TWO POLLUTANTS... WHO KNEW NO2 WAS SUCH A PROBLEM AND AT SUCH LOW LEVELS???

Air pollution health effects in New Zealand were first assessed in the Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand (HAPINZ 1.0) study undertaken by Fisher et al (2007) for 2001. This work was later updated for 2006 by Kuschel et al (2012) (HAPINZ 2.0), using monitoring data collected to show compliance with a national environmental standard for particulate matter (PM10) (MfE 2011). At the time, limited data meant that HAPINZ 2.0 used PM10 as a proxy for all air pollution, and impacts were assigned to sources using their contributions to PM10 (rather than all) emissions. On this basis, the findings prioritised addressing domestic fire emissions over motor vehicle emissions in most locations across New Zealand. The authors acknowledged that HAPINZ 2.0 likely under-estimated effects due to motor vehicle nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This was flagged for future investigation. In 2019, the Ministry for the Environment, Waka Kotahi, Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health commissioned a new update - HAPINZ 3.0 - to update the air pollution impacts for 2016. HAPINZ 3.0 developed New Zealand specific exposure-response functions for a range of health outcomes, including childhood asthma, from exposure to both fine particulate (PM2.5) and NO2 using a two pollutant model. While some contribution from NO2 was expected, the extent of the impact was startling. The health burden from all human-generated (anthropogenic) sources of air pollution was estimated at $15.6 billion, with NO2 exposure accounting for just over 60%. At the time the initial findings came to light, no other researchers had found such strong associations between NO2 and mortality. This paper reviews the key features and findings of HAPINZ 3.0. Possibly more interestingly, the paper also discusses the comprehensive additional analyses undertaken by the HAPINZ 3.0 team to check for bias and to confirm the NO2 findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]