Oamaru also had ‘‘generally lower’’ levels of air pollution than parts of Central Otago.
Twenty-three households across Oamaru took part in the six-week community initiative, launched by Otago Regional Council in partnership with The Air Quality Collective.
Residents recorded air quality inside and outside their homes between May and June.
The Air Quality Collective director and project lead Dr Ian Longley said the project had already revealed some ‘‘clear patterns’’ in how winter air pollution ‘‘behaves’’ across the North Otago town.
‘‘The highest concentrations of particulate matter consistently occurred during the early evening, generally between 5pm and 7pm, which strongly suggests home heating smoke was the main source.’’
The project showed the ‘‘real value’’ of communities collecting environmental data alongside scientists.
‘‘Although detailed analysis is still under way, we can already see that air pollution in Oamaru varies across both time and location.’’
Dr Longley said another early observation was that participating homes appeared to be well ventilated which was ‘‘generally positive’’, although this also allowed smoke from outside to enter homes ‘‘where it often lingered for several hours’’.
ORC air quality scientist Sarah Harrison said the project’s data was being validated so comparisons could be made.
‘‘The early observations suggest particulate matter levels in Oamaru were generally lower than we’ve seen during similar monitoring in some parts of Central Otago.
‘‘However, there were still occasions where air pollution reached elevated levels, reminding us that smoke from home heating can affect air quality even in communities that aren’t traditionally considered pollution hotspots.’’
Monitoring was also carried out at St Joseph’s School and will help inform similar projects beginning next week in Wānaka and Hāwea schools.
Participating households included 11 families from the school and 12 recruited through local volunteer co-ordinator Ayushi Kachhara.
Ms Harrison said the Schools Air Watch project complemented ORC’s wider air quality work across Otago.
