diff --git a/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/event_loop_monitor.ts b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/event_loop_monitor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ee6f6a68b6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/event_loop_monitor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { promiseWithResolvers } from '@aztec/foundation/promise';
+import { Timer } from '@aztec/foundation/timer';
+
+import { EVENT_LOOP_LAG } from './metrics.js';
+import { type Meter, type ObservableGauge, type ObservableResult, ValueType } from './telemetry.js';
+
+/**
+ * Detector for custom Aztec attributes
+ */
+export class EventLoopMonitor {
+  private eventLoopLag: ObservableGauge;
+  private started = false;
+
+  constructor(meter: Meter) {
+    this.eventLoopLag = meter.createObservableGauge(EVENT_LOOP_LAG, {
+      unit: 'us',
+      valueType: ValueType.INT,
+      description: 'How busy is the event loop',
+    });
+  }
+
+  start(): void {
+    if (this.started) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.eventLoopLag.addCallback(this.measureLag);
+  }
+
+  stop(): void {
+    if (!this.started) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.eventLoopLag.removeCallback(this.measureLag);
+  }
+
+  private measureLag = async (obs: ObservableResult): Promise<void> => {
+    const timer = new Timer();
+    const { promise, resolve } = promiseWithResolvers<number>();
+    // how long does it take to schedule the next macro task?
+    // if this number spikes then we're (1) either blocking the event loop with long running sync code
+    // or (2) spamming the event loop with micro tasks
+    setImmediate(() => {
+      resolve(timer.us());
+    });
+
+    const lag = await promise;
+    obs.observe(Math.floor(lag));
+  };
+}
diff --git a/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/metrics.ts b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/metrics.ts
index 64e26377282..1561d4a9b60 100644
--- a/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/metrics.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/metrics.ts
@@ -125,3 +125,5 @@ export const PROOF_VERIFIER_COUNT = 'aztec.proof_verifier.count';
 
 export const VALIDATOR_RE_EXECUTION_TIME = 'aztec.validator.re_execution_time';
 export const VALIDATOR_FAILED_REEXECUTION_COUNT = 'aztec.validator.failed_reexecution_count';
+
+export const EVENT_LOOP_LAG = 'aztec.event_loop_lag';
diff --git a/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/otel.ts b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/otel.ts
index e8b6d767b48..81e534b37a2 100644
--- a/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/otel.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/telemetry-client/src/otel.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { BatchSpanProcessor, NodeTracerProvider } from '@opentelemetry/sdk-trace
 import { ATTR_SERVICE_NAME, ATTR_SERVICE_VERSION } from '@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions';
 
 import { type TelemetryClientConfig } from './config.js';
+import { EventLoopMonitor } from './event_loop_monitor.js';
 import { linearBuckets } from './histogram_utils.js';
 import { registerOtelLoggerProvider } from './otel_logger_provider.js';
 import { getOtelResource } from './otel_resource.js';
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ import { type Gauge, type TelemetryClient } from './telemetry.js';
 
 export class OpenTelemetryClient implements TelemetryClient {
   hostMetrics: HostMetrics | undefined;
+  eventLoopMonitor: EventLoopMonitor | undefined;
   targetInfo: Gauge | undefined;
   private meters: Map<string, Meter> = new Map<string, Meter>();
   private tracers: Map<string, Tracer> = new Map<string, Tracer>();
@@ -87,6 +89,10 @@ export class OpenTelemetryClient implements TelemetryClient {
       meterProvider: this.meterProvider,
     });
 
+    this.eventLoopMonitor = new EventLoopMonitor(
+      this.meterProvider.getMeter(this.resource.attributes[ATTR_SERVICE_NAME] as string),
+    );
+
     // See these two links for more information on providing target information:
     // https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otel/compatibility/prometheus_and_openmetrics/#resource-attributes
     // https://github.com/OpenObservability/OpenMetrics/blob/main/specification/OpenMetrics.md#supporting-target-metadata-in-both-push-based-and-pull-based-systems
@@ -96,6 +102,7 @@ export class OpenTelemetryClient implements TelemetryClient {
 
     this.targetInfo.record(1, this.resource.attributes);
     this.hostMetrics.start();
+    this.eventLoopMonitor.start();
   }
 
   public isEnabled() {
@@ -111,6 +118,8 @@ export class OpenTelemetryClient implements TelemetryClient {
   }
 
   public async stop() {
+    this.eventLoopMonitor?.stop();
+
     const flushAndShutdown = async (provider: { forceFlush: () => Promise<void>; shutdown: () => Promise<void> }) => {
       await provider.forceFlush();
       await provider.shutdown();