More work being done to advocate for #IndoorAirQuality (IAQ) regulations in Aotearoa New Zealand!
On a recent trip to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand to participate in the SETAC AU & ACTRA Conference 2025 held from 25-28 August, our Centre Director Prof Lidia Morawska met with colleagues from the University of Otago, Massey University, and the Building Research Association of NZ (BRANZ), and together published a briefing titled “Invisible and ignored: Why indoor air quality deserves our attention”.
This Briefing describes the vital but neglected area of IAQ and the need for a national agency and enforceable standards to raise performance in this area.
Here is a summary from the Briefing:
👉 We think a lot about the food we eat and the water we drink, but rarely do we consider the air we breathe, especially when we are indoors where we spend around 90% of our lives.
👉 Breathing is essential to survival. We can live weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air.
👉 Every breath draws in not just oxygen but also invisible pollutants (dust, fungi, pathogens, chemicals, particulates, and carcinogens) that can harm our health and impact our productivity.
👉 The evidence is clear that clean indoor air reduces illness, improves cognitive function, productivity and prevents the spread of respiratory infections. The challenge is that air remains invisible, undervalued, and largely absent from building codes and health policy.
👉 Aotearoa New Zealand needs a national authority established to drive a comprehensive indoor air quality strategy, coordinating surveillance, research, guidelines, and policies to provide clean air for all.
🔗 Read the briefing: https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/invisible-and-ignored-why-indoor-air-quality-deserves-our-attention
Julie Bennett, Caroline Halley, Mikael Boulic, Amanda Kvalsvig, Michael Baker, Manfred Plagmann, Lucy Telfar-Barnard, QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Australian Research Council (ARC), Thrive IAQ
