Ash from this week's Mt Tongariro eruption poses no immediate threat to Wairarapa people or stock, initial analysis shows.
Massey University Professor Shane Cronin, of the university's Volcanic Risk Solutions Centre, said early tests on the ash found moderate levels of soluable fluorine. It was at a similar level to
that produced by the Mt Ruapehu eruptions in 1995 and 1996, Mr Cronin said.
"Due to the restricted distribution and very thin ash fall, this currently poses no human health or agricultural threat beyond the immediate vicinity of the volcano," he said. Heavy rainfall since the eruption had removed much of the ash and its associated contaminants, he said.
The strong smell of sulphur many Wairarapa people reported was not surprising, he said, as sulphur dioxide was one of the chemicals commonly produced in a volcanic eruption.
Due to changing winds the smell had been reported as far north as Auckland and Mt Tongariro was still producing sulphur dioxide, so Wairarapa people would smell it for some time yet, depending on the wind direction.
