Is Rotorua's smell making you sick?

When Ronnie Pinker walks through the steam at Whakarewarewa Village she feels like she is having a facial.

She loves living there and has never worried about any health effects from living so close to the steam. The 55-year-old and her husband, Maihi, have been surrounded by hydrogen sulphide for 17 years - that's how long they have lived at the village.

The steam and its "rotten egg" odour which Rotorua is known for will go under the spotlight as part of a $4 million intensive five-year study by a team of people including academics from the University of Otago and University of California.

The team plan to interview about 1800 Rotorua residents to see if there are any health effects from being exposed to low levels of hydrogen sulphide over a long period.

Mrs Pinker said she would be interested to see the results but said she had never been ill from living close to the gas.

She knows several people who have lived in the village longer than her, including a woman in her early 90s who goes for a swim in the hot baths every day. None has suffered health effects as a result.

Living in the steam has many benefits - it's great for cooking.

Once a week Mrs Pinker cooks her meat in a cooking box in the steam. The meat is more tender and tastes nicer than when it is cooked in an oven. She also regularly takes a soak in the hot baths scattered throughout the village.

"It's really relaxing. The baths are packed at night."

Mrs Pinker is more concerned when the steam is not there.

"I have no problem with the steam as long as there is steam. You start to worry when it's not there because it's going to blow somewhere."

One of the members of the team undertaking the study is Professor Julian Crane of University of Otago's Wellington School of Medicine and Health Science.

He said the research had been prompted by a long standing interest in the area by the team's principal investigator and toxicologist, Professor Michael Bates.

Prof Bates, who used to work at Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in Wellington, is now at the University of California.

Mr Crane said the health effects of being exposed to high levels of hydrogen sulphide were well known but there needed to be more research done on the health effects of being exposed to low levels over a long period.

Rotorua was selected for the study because it had the largest population in the world who were exposed to hydrogen sulphide every day.

Hydrogen sulphide gas is also emitted in various workplaces including pulp and paper mills, piggeries and sewerage systems.

Wanganui artist Joanna Paul died at Rotorua's Polynesian Spa in May 2003 and Rotorua Coroner David Dowthwaite has not ruled out hydrogen sulphide poisoning.

In February 2000, a tourist died at Rotorua after exposure to high levels of the gas.

Residents taking part in the study will be randomly chosen and asked questions about their health and tested for respiratory conditions, eye problems and peripheral nerve functions.

Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters said people had lived in Rotorua's geothermal environment for many hundreds of years without obvious ill health effects from hydrogen sulphide.

"It's time we found out for sure."

The study will begin next year but a public meeting will be held at Te Pakira Marae on May 13 at 10am where the research team will outline their plans.