More than 700 Aucklanders die every year from air pollution from traffic, similar to the number who die from smoking cigarettes, with almost 4,000 more ending up in hospital, according to a new report.

Almost all Aucklanders, 90 percent, are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution higher than international standards.

Nationally, 2,000 people die per year from traffic pollution.

“Because the particles are so small, they are not easy to see, so we often don’t even think about them being there,” says Dr Jamie Hosking, a public health researcher at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

“Sometimes, when we’re close to traffic, we can smell the exhaust, and that’s when we really notice it. But even when we can’t smell it, it’s still there, putting our health at great risk.”

Petrol and diesel burn to produce noxious gases, chiefly nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and minute particles of soot, smoke, dust and chemicals (PM2.5).

“Because they’re so small, these particles can get right into our lungs and then cross into the bloodstream. They cause health effects through their impact on the lungs, but also on our cardiovascular system – the heart – and can contribute to strokes,” Hosking says.

A report, Our Air, has just been published on Auckland’s air pollution by Healthy Auckland Together a collective of public health researchers and agencies working in the area.

Hosking and fellow public health researcher at the University of Auckland Professor Alistair Woodward will present the report to Auckland Council’s Transport Committee and call for urgent action on Auckland’s air pollution.

Auckland’s air pollution comes partly from household heating but pollution from traffic is by far the biggest cause of illness.

It is estimated traffic pollution causes 6,100 cases and 424 hospitalisations for childhood asthma every year in Auckland.

People in cheaper housing near motorways and busy roads are at extra risk, so there are equity issues.

“It's often people on lower incomes who end up being more exposed to this dirty air and then having the health impacts as a result,” Hosking says.

What Auckland Council needs to do

The report outlines solutions. The 20 agencies comprising Healthy Auckland Together would like to see Auckland Council:

• Invest in affordable, clean and frequent public transport services
• Introduce equitable congestion charges
• Build and maintain attractive footpaths and pedestrian crossings, and protected cycle lanes
• Improve air quality monitoring
• Provide more parks and street trees

What central government needs to do

Nationally, the government needs to:

• Raise vehicle emission standards to ensure cleaner vehicles enter the country
• Update New Zealand’s air quality standards to reflect the latest health evidence
• Set transport charges – such as fuel excise, road user charges and registration fees – so they properly reflect the health and social costs caused by vehicle emissions.

Air pollution in Auckland results in a significant number of deaths and serious illnesses with unacceptable healthcare and social costs – urgent action is needed.