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HAPINZ
Final Report (June 2007)
Executive
Summary (134Kb PDF)
Report
(2Mb PDF)
Appendices
(1.5Mb PDF)
Pilot Study (Sept 2005)
Health
and Air Pollution in New Zealand: Christchurch Pilot Study (Warning
7.5Mb - PDF format)
A number of agencies, government departments and councils have become
very interested in understanding more about the health effects of air
pollution in New Zealand.
Although it is not a problem on the same scale as in many other parts of
the world, it is still an issue of concern.
A large new study to determine what the health effects are, their
causes, the costs associated with these effects, and the potential range of
policy options to reduce them has been started called: HAPINZ, Health and
Air Pollution in New
Zealand..
The project is a jointly funded initiative between the Health Research
Council, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry for the Environment.
The $1M project runs over three years and will feed a number of results
back into various related projects and policy developments.
The research team comprises experts from NIWA, the Wellington Medical
School, the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the
Australian National University, the University of Canterbury, Landcare
Research, and private consultants and students. Some 20 people are
involved, covering a range of specialities from basic air quality science,
modelling, epidemiology, toxicology, economics, policy and Maori issues.
The project has been structured into discrete components, with strong
links across the various activities. The first step is to assess the extent
of air pollution, who it might be affecting, and when. The next step is to
calculate the medical and biological effects on people. This part of the
project is being supplemented with a new study, which is gauging specific
effects on a group of school children in Christchurch. Once the effects are
known, the costs and economic implications need to be assessed, and a range
of actions and policy options suggested for improving the situation.
Initially we will conduct a prototype study on Christchurch, to get a
better understanding of effects of poor air quality there and to trial the
economic and policy assessment methodologies. Results will be published as
they become available, with the full prototype study finished by the end of
2003.
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