Air quality during Hawai'i's New Year's Eve celebration was not marked by any major increase in lingering pollution, thanks to light but steady trade winds, state health officials said yesterday.

Conditions from Sunday night to Monday morning were similar to those during the 2005-2006 celebration, which at the time produced some of the least-polluted air in three years. The monitored results of particulates in the air as 2007 arrived met state and federal clean-air regulations for a 24-hour period, said Wilfred Nagamine, chief of the Department of Health's Clean Air Branch.

"It was similar to last year, mainly because of the trade winds we did have," he said. "Although they were light, at least they were steady most of the time and that really helped to disperse the pollutants."

The National Weather Service had forecast moderate trade winds of 10 to 15 mph, but the health department clocked them at 5 mph or less at its monitoring stations, Nagamine said.

The state measures air quality at four sites on O'ahu (at the state health department headquarters downtown, Liliha, Pearl City and Kapolei) and in Kihei, Maui.

Once again, Pearl City revelers set the benchmark for smoky air, but their revelry was much lower-key than in previous years. Smoky conditions there peaked at 1 a.m. Monday with 954 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Last Jan. 1, levels in Pearl City reached 1,709 micrograms.

But conditions at Kapolei surprised health officials because at 1 a.m. Monday, they were nearly 10 times worse than the previous year: 752 micrograms per cubic meter of air compared to 78 on Jan. 1, 2006. That lasted for about an hour before a dramatic drop in lingering particulates.

A lack of wind between midnight and 2 a.m. was probably the cause, Nagamine said.

The American Lung Association's Hawaii Chapter called the conditions "uneventful." No one called to complain and the chapter received fewer requests for face masks this year, said Claudia Clement, who oversees air quality issues for the chapter.

Last year, the chapter was swamped with requests, handing out more than 400 paper masks for New Year's Eve. This year, it handed out about 50 masks, Clement said.

"I guess people were less nervous this year," she said. "Maybe after last year, and seeing it wasn't so bad, they decided not to bother," she said.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.