Skip to main content

Summary 

Historically, foul odours were believed to cause illness and efforts to reduce their impact influenced urban design and public health laws. Research over the last 50 years has re-established odour pollution as causing adverse health effects as well as affecting community mental health. 

Such incidents are common in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ); a search of news media identified 36 examples of communities in NZ experiencing significant odour problems between 2016 and 2025. In a case study from 2014, 13 people had symptoms severe enough to seek medical attention due to foul odours from a wastewater treatment plant. 

Even though regional councils are the lead agency for managing odour under the Resource Management Act 1991, public health services have a role in advocating on behalf of communities affected by odour pollution.

The stench invades everything, it gets right inside my house. I can taste it when I'm talking - it's revolting. I suffer from sore throats, sore eyes, headaches, shortness of breath and I miss all my friends. No one wants to come to Bromley anymore.

This is how a resident described the experience of living close to the Bromley Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2022.1 While most people accept that persistent foul odours can be very unpleasant, odour complaints are often viewed by regulators as an annoyance rather than a health hazard than can make people sick.

Odours and health

Until the golden age of microbiology between 1820 and 1890, it was generally believed that foul odours caused ill-health.2 The word miasma comes from a Greek word meaning pollution.3 Many of the towns and cities in NZ designed in the 19th century show evidence of the response to the miasma theory with parks, green spaces, and the drainage of wetlands.4 The current public health legislation in NZ, the 1956 Health Act, still has sections such as statutory nuisances and offensive trades which are linked to 19th-century views of public health.5

With the arrival of the science of microbiology, foul odours as a cause of illness slipped out of favour unless levels of specific airborne chemicals reached levels demonstrated to cause toxic poisoning effects. Poisoning arising from chemical contamination of the environment is notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health under section 74 and Schedule 2 of the Health Act 1956. In contrast, becoming physically ill with vomiting and headaches because of a foul odour is not notifiable, despite symptoms being similar to poisoning--see Figure 1.

Figure 1. Reporting pathways under the Health Act 1956 (based on the mechanisms of odour-induced health effects outlined in Odours and Human Health6). 

Diagram showing the similarities between chemical poisonings and foul odours, as well as how they are treated differently

Odour pollution is common in Aotearoa New Zealand

Odour pollution incidents are common and are a leading cause of environmental complaints to local authorities.7 A search of news media stories identified 36 persistent odour pollution incidents between 2016 and 2025. The most common sources of the foul odours were meat processing related (33%), wastewater treatment plants (25%), and landfills (20%). Some of the odour pollution incidents had lasted years or even decades. In total, 18 out of the 36 news articles described significant quality of life impacts such as social isolation, having to keep doors and windows shut even on warm days, and being unable to spend time outside when the foul odours were strong. We summarise the types and locations of incidents in Figures 2 and 3, with full details in Appendix 1.

for print
for print

A bad smell is a signal to the nervous system to stay away

A large number of studies show that health and wellbeing are indeed linked to environmental odours. A review of more than 50 studies published between 1975 and 2013 found that residents of communities located near odour-emitting facilities were found to report a higher number of health symptoms compared to residents of control communities.6  A more recent systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 odour studies found a statistically significant association between populations exposed to odour pollution and adverse health effects such as headaches, coughing, and phlegm.8   

Smell is the oldest sense of the five senses from an evolutionary perspective.9 For humans, smell is a gatekeeper sense—a bad smell is a signal to the nervous system to stay away.9 Exposure to foul odours is associated with stress and annoyance, and the level of annoyance is strongly associated with symptoms that impact quality of life and mental health as shown in Table 1.6,8,10 Different life experiences and natural variation within communities can result in different sensations and emotional responses by individuals to the same odorous compounds.7,10 

Table 1. Common symptoms from exposure to environmental odours 6,8,10 

Organ / health domainSymptom
Brain Headache*†, drowsiness*, dizziness* 
NoseIrritation*, congestion* 
EyesIrritation, watery or dry *
Throat  Irritation*‡, hoarseness*, sore throat* 
LungsCough/phlegm*†, chest tightness*, shortness of breath*, wheezing*, sleep problems from irritation or cough*, asthma*,
HeartPalpitations*
GastrointestinalNausea/ vomiting*,‡, diarrhoea*
Mental wellbeingAnnoyance* †, sleep problems*, depression*, stress*, anger*, fatigue*, confusion*, anxiety*, mood states* ,#, lower quality of life*
*Effects noted in epidemiological studies.6
Statistically significant association in a meta-analysis.8
Statistically border-line association in a meta-analysis.8
#Suggestive association in a meta-analysis.6

Case study example – decomposing dairy waste odours at Eltham, Taranaki

Between 3 October 2013 and 28 October 2013, Fonterra discharged three million litres of buttermilk and 150,000 litres of raw milk into a covered anaerobic digesting pond located at the Eltham Wastewater Treatment Plant. The pond had been closed previously because it did not work. Odour complaints started almost immediately, and the people of Eltham suffered offensive odours for many months. General practitioners reported 13 people to the Medical Officer of Health with suspected odour-related illness, though none met the threshold of “poisoning”.11 

The devolution of air quality management to regional councils under the Resource Management Act 1991, has largely overshadowed the statutory nuisance sections of the Health Act 1956 that relate to offensive odours.5 The South Taranaki District Council was eventually fined $115,000 and Fonterra fined $192,000 for breaching the Resource Management Act 1991.12

Conclusion

Persistent foul odours from industrial sources, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills are common in Aotearoa New Zealand. Odours that are managed as annoyances by regional councils can cause symptoms similar to chemical toxicity including headaches, nausea, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite, stress, insomnia, and physical discomfort, and can have a significant impact on community mental health. It is clear that the current environmental approaches under the Resource Management Act 1991 are not fully protecting communities from prolonged exposure to odour pollution. There is a strong case for public health services to do more to advocate on behalf of affected communities to improve, protect and promote their health and well-being. 

What is new in this Briefing

  • There is extensive international evidence linking odour pollution to ill-health.
  • Repeated exposure to offensive “non-toxic” odours can cause symptoms similar to chemical toxicity.
  • Foul odours that impact communities are common in Aotearoa New Zealand and at times have lasted for years.
  • Regulators often view offensive odours as an annoyance for a small number of individuals rather than a hazard that can adversely affect health at a population level.

Implications for public health policy and practice

  • Primary prevention would include industries doing more to control odours, being a “good neighbour”, and improved zoning to further separate residential areas from the sources of offensive odours.
  • The 2016 NZ Good Practice Guide for Assessing and Managing Odour7 needs to be updated to reflect the literature and explicitly address the potential health impacts of odour on communities.
  • General practitioners in localities with odour pollution should be reminded to notify all illnesses suspected to be caused by chemical contamination of the environment to their local Medical Officer of Health.
  • The National Public Health Service should proactively advocate on behalf of communities adversely affected by offensive odours, even once the risk of poisoning and chemical toxicity is excluded. 

Author details

Dr Jonathan Jarman, retired Medical Officer of Health of 28 years and currently a student with the Department of Science Communication, University of Otago.

Lou Wickham, Director, Emission Impossible. As an independent, private consultant, Lou Wickham has previously provided advice to local government, public health agencies and private industry.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jayne Metcalf and Prof Nick Wilson for their peer reviews of the final draft, and Dr John Kerr for suggestions and assistance with data visualisation.

Appendix: News media reports of persistent odour pollution incidents 2016-2025

 

Date of media articleAffected CommunitySource of Odour PollutionDescription of Odour ExperienceNews Media link
2025

Whanganui

 

 

Wastewater treatment plant“The people out there have put up with hell for nine years,” said Anderson.Whanganui council hoping two projects will end wastewater plant odour issues
2025Whitford, East Auckland

Lack of sewage treatment plant 

 

In September, the Herald spoke to residents who said the smell of raw sewage was making them gag. “It’s revolting,” said Robyn Newman-Hall, who along with her partner Jim Brown were members of a vocal group of residents angry at a lack of progress building a new wastewater treatment plant.Receivers appointed at Auckland’s Whitford Manor Estate housing development after sewage row, low sales
2025ŌpōtikiWastewater treatment plantShe described the odour as "a sickening smell like dead carcasses". 

Ōpōtiki’s mystery smell solved, but ‘sickening’ odour remains

 

 

2025Marton, Rangitīkei

Landfill

 

 

The judge referred to victim impact statements in which neighbours said they were embarrassed to invite friends to outdoor activities at their homes, that they were sometimes woken by the smell at night or had to live with doors and windows closed, and laundry hung out to dry sometimes had to be re-washed.Smelly dump attracts $202,500 in fines
2024Seaview, Lower Hutt

Wastewater Treatment Plant

 

 

“The stench”, as locals call it, can be so odious, people have to dash between their car and house holding their breath, have stopped eating outside and are considering selling their homes to escape.

Living with ‘the stench’: the smelly New Zealand city with an air of despair

 

2024Porirua

Landfill

 

 

Most described the smells as a “rubbish bin”, followed by “rotten eggs”.

Could these new fans spell the end of Spicer Landfill’s smelly woes?

 

2024Cardinal West, Red Hills, Auckland

Temporary sewage storage

 

 

“It’s like Rotorua but a little bit more potent. It smells like poo,” said one woman, who rents a house with her partner and three children across the road from one of the tank farms.

Stink over trucking sewage from West Auckland housing development goes to court

 

2024Bromley, Christchurch

Compost plant

 

 

Rancid meat or the worst boiled cabbage imaginable! That's how residents in the Christchurch suburb of Bromley are describing the rotting smell they've been putting up with for years, coming from a Christchurch City Council-owned Living Earth compost plant.

Christchurch compost plant stench makes residents sick

 

 

2024

Washdyke and northern Timaru

 

Unidentified source"We always talk about it. When there's the smell, it's just not nice. We have to leave our doors closed because it's almost like a dead animal smell," she said. Her main concern was for the customers, who were getting a free side of the sickening stench if they opted for al fresco seating.'That place smells': Investigation launched into 'nasty, meaty' stench in Timaru
2024Hastings

Tannery 

 

 

“It was so bad in summer that I would have to close the doors and windows because the smell would get into your house. You’d have to get your washing in” Wallis said.Odour from Hastings tannery increasing every year, nearby residents say
2023Awatoto, just south of Napier

Animal waste products rendering plant

 

 

The odours identified included rotting meat, animal effluent and waste, as well as a bark-filter smell.

Hawke's Bay Protein fined $13,000 for stinky discharge after spending $1m trying to fix problem

 

 

2023Taylorville, Greymouth

Landfill

 

 

A Taylorville resident who contacted the Greymouth Star on Thursday said the smell had been extreme in the past 10 days. The smell would "bring up your morning tea" and it had been a talking point in the neighbourhood.

West Coast Regional Council investigates 'sickening' smell

 

 

2022Bromley, Christchurch

Wastewater treatment plant

 

 

 

Resident Vickie Walker broke down when she spoke of how the smell has affected her.  "I can't work effectively or efficiently in my business and neither can my husband. We don't get our sleep and we don't relax. There are thousands like me suffering here," she sobbed. On top of that smell, Bromley residents have also had to deal with the disgusting smell of decaying food waste from the city's compost plant, for the past 13 years.Bromley locals call on council to remedy stench: 'Do your job - make our health paramount'
2022Thornbury, Southland

Fish waste processing plant

 

"It’s putrid — it makes you want to vomit sometimes. A rotten, stinking fish smell." 

Stench has residents demanding action

 

2022Ellerslie

Pet food manufacturing company 

 

 

“Residents across the suburb of Ellerslie first started reporting the smell of rotten fish and meat back in November 2020, and they say they’re still being plagued by more than a year on.”

Something fishy going on in Auckland as factory odour plagues Ellerslie locals

 

 

2021Tauranga

Pet food manufacturing company

 

 

“The complainants describe having to move indoors to avoid the odour, closing windows and doors and wanting to move house.”

Tauranga pet food company Alpine Export NZ ordered to pay $70,000 fine

 

 

2021Mt Maunganui

Pet food manufacturing plant

 

 

“Ziwi Ltd was prosecuted by Bay of Plenty Regional Council for both odour and wastewater discharges in 2018 that were described by complainants as “putrid”, “rank” and “overpowering””

Pet food firm gets $66,000 fine for 'offensive and objectionable odours'

 

 

2021Uruti, Taranaki

Compost and worm farming business

 

 

"The stench in the air was just so bad. It made us all cough, it burnt our eyes, it made our lungs feel very heavy and my children, who were in the car at the time, all suffered the same symptoms and one of them in particular got into coughing splutters, so we had to call an ambulance," Bendall said.

Air quality review indicates link between compost site odour and illness

 

2021Hastings 

Meat industry cartage

 

 

Staff from three businesses - The Warehouse, Wheel Plus and Hastings Honda – said people at their premises had been affronted by what was variously described as “a fetid sickening odour that smelt like rotten meat or fish”. It made staff feel nauseous, headachy and unable to eat their lunch. There had been numerous complaints about odour from the property between 2010 and 2018 and in February 2019 an abatement notice was issued directing the company to cease the discharge of offensive odour beyond the boundary of its property. Putrid stench of rotting meat hung over Hastings city centre putting many off their lunch
2020Pukemiro

Landfill fire

 

 

“It was a toxic plastic smell that brought her "to the point of vomiting" and was so bad at night it had woken them up at times, she said.”Waikato dump fire burning since August: Locals report health problems
2020Bromley, Christchurch

Unknown

 

 

For years residents have bemoaned the putrid pong, claiming the air is so bad they are trapped in their homes, forced to relentlessly wash their bodies and clothes to rid themselves of a smell they liken to a disgusting soup of rotten fish, bins and dead animals.

 

 

Tracking down the source of Bromley's mysterious stench
2020Tuakau, Waikato

Animal products processing plant

 

 

The court heard the stench was akin to rotten meat, stale water or raw sewage and had resulted in locals being physically sick and suffering throbbing headaches.

Tuakau residents want company out of town after prosecution over putrid smell coming from animal plant

 

 

2019Waharoa, Waikato

Wastewater treatment plant

 

 

Residents near the factory have complained of a "putrid smell" that wafted as far away as Matamata, 6km up the road. They described a range of debilitating effects from having to keep doors and windows shut through to headaches and vomiting.

Dairy firm cops hefty fine for smell that caused sickness

 

 

2019Green Island, Dunedin

Landfill

 

 

“So offensive was the malodorous air yesterday morning that Green Island resident Tina Tunster was woken from her sleep by it.”

Crying foul over stink coming from landfill

 

 

 

2019Gibbston, Central Otago

Landfill 

 

 

''The stench has been there for months, and it's so bad that anybody - not just local travellers but international travellers - would be revolted by it because it's so strong.''ORC ignores smell complaints - Laws
2019Hororata

Animal rendering plant

 

 

"I'm used to country smells and have lived in the country for 30 years," she said. "Bad smells don't worry me but these ones are vomit-inducing." The woman said she had to keep windows permanently shut, stopped going outside and avoided having friends over, and the smell seeped into her laundry.Stinking meat factory and body parts on the lawn cause years of hell for neighbour
2018Havelock North

Mushroom farm

 

 

Krebs said just because there was a small number of complainants did not mean the other neighbouring residents were not affected by the stench, labelling the case "death by a thousand pongs".

Te Mata Mushroom Company fined $26k for objectionable odours

 

 

2018Mosgiel

Animal rendering plant

 

 

"It’s not just a little bit of bad odour, it’s absolutely disgusting. The families living next to it, they go to get their washing in and it bloody stinks. The clothes smell worse than when they got them off the kids," he said.Residents cry foul over ‘unbearable’ smell from plant
2018Burnside, Dunedin

Animal rendering plant

 

 

Kenmure resident Ian Stewart said he was driving down Kaikorai Valley Rd recently and "dry retching'' at the smell. "It's because of the type of smell. It's that real decaying smell.''

Gripes over 'disgusting' stench

 

 

2017Hokio, Horowhenua

Landfill

 

 

"It's very invasive and noxious, the most appalling smell. It destroys people's lifestyles and their pleasure of life," he said.

Odour appeal withdrawn

 

 

2017Temuka

Wastewater treatment plant

 

 

"You have the shut the house up and turn off any air conditioning, otherwise the whole house reeks of... sewage. Clothes are starting to smell of this, and you can't hang anything on the line to dry."Pungent, revolting odour vexes some in Temuka
2017Woolston, Christchurch

Gelatine factory

 

 

Complaints were from residents living in the wind pattern of the odour, who were catching whiffs of rotting meat.

Christchurch gelatine factory draws more complaints about odours

 

 

2017Waipukurau, Hawkes Bay

Several sources including a wastewater treatment plant

 

 

Jo Brabyn lives on Mt Herbert Rd, and said it had been happening almost every night and seemed to have worsened with winter approaching.  "It's a very strong, foul smell, it's not sweet like silage, it's a sewage smell."

Foul odour gets up noses of Waipukurau residents

 

 

2017Southern suburbs, Wellington

Wastewater treatment plant

 

 

Owhiro Bay Residents' Association spokeswoman Colleen Cox said the "sewage-gassy odour" varied, "from a six to a 10".Stench of Wellington's sewage wafts through suburbia
2017Timaru

Meat processing plant

 

 

"I have been here for four years and this is the worst it has been. The other night, when it was a really sticky day, I tried to open the windows and the stench was out of this world. It turns your stomach."Timaru residents' noses put out of joint by smell
2016Tahuna, South Dunedin

Wastewater treatment plant

 

 

"I came home on Thursday and it was that bad you could throw up.'' Her message to council staff was: "You come and live here.''

Tahuna stench sickens

 

Note: Based on searches of Google and Dow Jones Factiva databases using key words such as “offensive”, “foul”, and “odours” to find examples of odour pollution in New Zealand, limited to dates between 2016 and 2025. Each odour source is only listed once despite many having multiple news articles stretching over years or even decades.

Creative commons

Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)

References

  1. Chittock N. Bromley locals call on council to remedy stench: ‘Do your job - make our health paramount’. RNZ. 2022 May 27. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/466089/bromley-locals-call-on-council-to-remedy-stench-do-your-job-make-our-health-paramount
  2. Donaldson C. Miasma: doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Surgeon’s Hall Museums Blog. 2024 Nov 8. https://surgeonshallmuseums.wordpress.com/2024/11/08/miasma-doing-the-right-thing-for-the-wrong-reasons/
  3. Online Etymology Dictionary. Miasma. https://www.etymonline.com/word/miasma
  4. Beattie J. Colonial geographies of settlement: vegetation, towns, disease and well-being in Aotearoa/New Zealand, 1830s–1930s. Environ Soc Portal. 2008. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/beattie-14-4.pdf
  5. Reynolds C. Dangerous to health or ‘offensive’: the nuisance power in New Zealand and Australian environmental health law – some arguments for reform. J Environ Public Health. 2008 Jul;2008:8–13.
  6. Government of Alberta. Odours and human health. Edmonton (AB): Environmental Public Health Science Unit, Health Protection Branch, Public Health and Compliance Division, Alberta Health; 2017. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/9781460131534
  7. Ministry for the Environment. Good practice guide for assessing and managing odour. Wellington: Ministry for the Environment; 2016. https://environment.govt.nz/publications/good-practice-guide-for-assessing-and-managing-odour/
  8. Guadalupe-Fernandez V, et al. Industrial odour pollution and human health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Health. 2021;20(108). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00774-3
  9. Brandt T, Huppert D. The mysterious sense of smell: evolution, historical perspectives, and neurological disorders. Front Hum Neurosci. 2025;19:1588935. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1588935
  10. Suffet IM, Braithwaite S. Odor complaints, health impacts and monitoring methods. White paper prepared for California Air Resources Board. Sacramento (CA): CARB; 2019, https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/research/apr/past/18rd010.pdf
  11. Jarman J. The Eltham buttermilk odour issue: a public health assessment of people notified with suspected “poisoning arising from chemical contamination of the environment”. Taranaki District Health Board; 2014 Oct 13. Unpublished report.
  12. Radio New Zealand. Fonterra fined $192k over buttermilk stink. RNZ. 2015 Jul 28. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/280349/fonterra-fined-$192k-over-buttermilk-stink 

About the Briefing

Public health expert commentary and analysis on the challenges facing Aotearoa New Zealand and evidence-based solutions.

Subscribe

Briefing CTA

Public Health Expert Briefing

Get the latest insights from the public health research community delivered straight to your inbox for free. Subscribe to stay up to date with the latest research, analysis and commentary from the Public Health Expert Briefing.