Diggers working at the burnt-out Bromley wastewater treatment plant after it was badly damaged by fire in November 2021. Photo:
The public health research agency says environmental odour pollution in New Zealand can make people sick, and that current regulators are not doing enough to protect communities.
The latest briefing released by the Public Health Communication Centre has looked into 36 odour pollution incidents in New Zealand, stretching from Thornbury in Southland, to Auckland.
Meat processing (33 percent), waste water treatment plants (25 percent) and landfills (20 percent) were found to be the most common sources of odour pollution.
A case study from 2014 showed the seriousness of health impacts, where 13 people in Eltham, Taranaki, reported to their GPs with odour-related symptoms, after Fonterra discharged 3 million tonnes of buttermilk and 150,000 litres of raw milk into a anaerobic digesting pond that did not work.
Recent incidents include Christchurch's Bromley residents putting up with rancid smells coming from a wastewater treatment plant, after a fire in 2021 destroyed two filters.
The briefing's lead researcher Dr Jonathan Jarman said he was surprised at how widespread the incidents were over the past 10 years, and found that it amounted to a significant public health problem in New Zealand.
"Things like prolonged stress, being unable to invite friends around, having to keep doors and windows closed in summer, and smells so bad that it made you want to vomit," he said.
Jarman said international research over the past 50 years had found that prolonged exposure to foul smells could cause symptoms that were similar to that resulting from chemical poisoning, such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, cough, loss of appetite and insomnia.
Environmental regulators, namely the regional councils, were not taking foul odours as seriously as they should, he said.
They were overlooking the impacts, when they only relied on indicators such as looking for toxic levels of chemicals in the air, he said.
The briefing makes a number of recommendations, including calling for the National Public Health Service to proactively advocate for communities adversely affected.
Jarman said public health officers should talk to communities, and encourage people to see GPs when they think they have symptoms relating to odour exposure.
He said he hoped public health could work with regional councils and industries - the source of the pollutants - to get problems resolved quickly.
The briefing also recommends GPs to notify all illnesses suspected to be caused by chemical contamination of the environment to their local Medical Officer of Health.
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