Air quality in Marlborough breached the national standard twice this past winter.
The Marlborough District Council monitors the air for PM10 particles, also known as fine particles or soot.
A report by council environmental scientist Fleur Tiernan, presented to the environment committee last week, said twice between May and August PM10 levels were higher than the national standard of 50 micrograms per cubic metre for PM10 particles.
PM10 particles are five times finer than a human hair. The two readings were 64mcg and 67.5mcg and were recorded at the monitoring site in Redwoodtown.
Last year the level was breached only once and in 2008 it was breached five times.
The report suggested the high concentrations could have been caused by outdoor burning and the lifting of the fire ban on May 19.
The wet start to winter could have made material to be burned wet and release more emissions to the atmosphere, the report says.
Despite this, the report showed a general downward trend in PM10 levels in Blenheim.
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