Recent frosty nights and still days are being blamed for the current rise in Invercargill's air pollution according to Environment Southland (ES).

A monitoring site at Pomona Street has twice this winter recorded levels that exceeded the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality just days apart.

On Sunday, 14 July, the Pomona Street monitoring site recorded a 24-hour average PM10 concentration of 51.6 micrograms/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air), over the standards’ threshold of 50 micrograms/m3. The following day there was a second exceedance of 50.7 micrograms/m3.

ES team leader air and terrestrial science Nick Talbot said data showed pollution levels rose quickly after 5pm, and remained high until midnight.

“With the onset of frosty nights, the smell of smoke is quite notable."

"The smell is from tiny particulates in the air; these can easily penetrate into the lungs, placing stress on people's health, especially for those who are more susceptible to health complications, such as children, the elderly and others with respiratory conditions,” Talbot said.

“Remember, outdoor smoke easily makes its way into other people's houses, so the way you burn affects your neighbours and neighbourhood.”

We encourage everybody to keep warm when temperatures drop.

The best tip to reduce smoke impact and get the most value for your wood is to keep fires burning hot and bright, burn dry wood, don’t bank your fire overnight and make sure the flue is clean and burner well maintained.

Non-compliant burners are progressively being phased out, with burners that were installed in Invercargill and Gore before 1 January 2001 now requiring to be replaced by a compliant burner.

CLICK HERE for more information on what you can do to improve air quality.