EPHC Archive - Air

Caution: archived content

Information previously available on the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) website (www.ephc.gov.au) is listed in this archive. These pages are no longer being maintained or updated but remain here as an archive for your information.

 

 

Air quality is determined by a combination of pollutant emissions and meteorology complicated in some cases by physical factors such as topography and urban form. Pollutants in the air can lead to health effects, particularly for sensitive populations - such as children, the elderly and those with decreased lung function.

The NEPC has made a NEPM on Ambient Air Quality which sets uniform national standards for six criteria pollutants and a NEPM on air toxics.  The EPHC has undertaken a number of research programs to find out more about the relationship of air quality and health.

Non-road Engine Emissions

The Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) is developing strategies for national collaboration on actions to reduce air emissions. As part of this stategy, the EPHC is investigating options to reduce emissions from engines. This page deals with non-road engines. Road engines are covered under Land transport.

Diesel

Non-road diesel engine emissions

Non-road diesel engines are used in a wide variety of applications such as construction, industrial, or mining and can be significant emitters of air pollution. Examples include cranes, excavators, dozers, scrapers or heavy forklifts. While on-road diesel engines sold in Australia are regulated to meet strict emission limits, there are no regulations or standards in place to control emissions from the non-road diesel sector. Regulated emissions limits for these engines have been enforced in US and EU since the mid-1990s, and more recently in Canada, Japan, China and India. Non-road diesel engines and equipment emit considerably more particulate matter than petrol engines and a disproportionate amount of nitrogen oxides (NOX) which contribute to ground-level ozone formation.

Non-road engines study

The study to gather information and scope possible actions for non-road diesel engines in Australia was funded by NSW and the Commonwealth and managed by NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. A report was finalised in April 2010. The study found that significant health benefits can be potentially achieved through undertaking actions to reduce emissions from non-road diesel engines and equipment.

Main findings of the study

The main findings of the study include:

  • The non-road sector (excluding rail and marine transport) consumes nationally a similar volume of automotive diesel oil as the on-road diesel vehicle sector.
  • National level emissions from non-road diesel are similar to those from on-road diesel engines.
  • The emissions compliance of new non-road diesel engines sold in Australia lag substantially behind international (US and EU) standards.
  • Particle emission reductions achievable nationally through compliance with latest US standards are estimated to be between 5,600 and 10,200 tonnes per annum in 2020, increasing to 7,300 to 14,100 tonnes per annum in 2030.
  • Annual health benefits associated with PM10 and NOX emissions reductions in Australia are estimated to be in the range $2.5 to $4.7 billion by 2030.
  • Non-road diesel engines are all imported into Australia.
  • In the absence of national emissions standards, there is a risk that continued voluntary uptake of cleaner engines could decline in the face of cheaper, non-compliant imports, for some engine categories.

Study reports

Spark Ignition consultation

A Consultation RIS on options for reducing emissions from non-road engines has been released for public consultation until 27 July 2010. In addition to the issues raised in the RIS, we seek your views on the following specific issues:

  • What is the likely impact of adopting US emission standards on the purchase price for each type of relevant product?
  • What is the likely impact of adopting US emission standards on consumer demand for each type of relevant product?
  • What is the likely impact of adopting US emission standards on consumer choice for each type of relevant product, i.e., if US standards were adopted, which products would be removed from the market?
  • What are impacts to manufacturers and distributors of meeting US Final Rule standards through a phased approach in comparison with a non-phased approach?

Consultation documents and submissions

Air quality research and planning

Air Quality Working Group

In 2002, EPHC established the Air Quality Working Group, with membership from State and Commonwealth agencies and the health sector, to identify priority areas of research into the relationship between air quality and health.

The working group reports to EPH Standing Committee. Its role is to advise EPH Standing Committee on (and as directed facilitate EPHC projects related to) the following:

  • strategic and emerging air quality issues
  • national and joint Australia/New Zealand air quality research priorities
  • collaborative work on air quality projects, such as the development of inventories, modelling, and monitoring techniques, approaches to monitoring infrastructure/ equipment and options for addressing emission risks; and
  • developing closer cooperation with sectors and agencies with an intrest in air quality issues, including those responsible for health, transport, land-use planning, and greenhouse policy.

Priority research areas

In recognition of the significant linkages between air quality and health, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council has made a determined effort to address the gaps in Australian research in this area.

Working groups were established to identify priority areas of research into the relationship between air quaility and health, and to identify funding options and develop mechanisms for the delivery of priority research projects. The information generated by these studies will support decisions on future air quality standards and management strategies. More information on studies completed, or in progress, can be found at Children's Health Air Pollution Study, Multi-city Mortality and Morbidity Study, and Time Activity Study.

Children's Health - Air Pollution Study

This study arose from the scientific needs of the Ambient Air Quality NEPM review of the Australian air quality standards. Results are critical for two stages of the reveiw, specifically:

  • informing whether the current air quality standards adequately protect the health of Australian children from the effects of air pollution; and
  • to provide quantitative information to inform any amendment of the current standards.

The primary purpose of the project was to obtain quantitative effect estimates for the association between the criteria air pollutants* contained in the Ambient Air Quality NEPM and adverse health outcomes such as increases in respiratory symptoms (for example cough and wheeze) and decreases in lung function in school-aged children across Australia.

The study is examining both cumulative effects in a representative sample of children and day-to-day effects of air pollution in a sub-sample of children with asthma. The study report is expected in April 2011.

*The criteria pollutants are: ozone, particulates as PM10 and PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide.

Multi-City Mortality & Morbidity Study

In May 2003, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council approved a research study which examined the effects of air pollution of human health in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Canberra in Australia, and from Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand.

The study included an analysis of data from these cities on mortality and hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular disease using a standardised statistical approach consistent with large multi-city studies in the USA and Europe. The study also included an analysis of the health effects attributed to PM2.5 and PM10. The principal investigators were the University of the Sunshine Coast in association with the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, and associate investigators include New South Wales Health, Queensland Health, Environment Protection Victoria, West Australian Department of Environment Protection, Environment ACT, and the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment.

A final report of the study was presented by the investigators in 2006. A peer review of the study was initiated in 2007, focusing on the study design, the soundness and reliability of the statistical methods used and whether the methods employed had been applied appropriately.

The peer review was conducted by international experts (Prof Ross Anderson and Dr Richard Atkinson, St Georges Hospital, London; Dr Lucas Neas, US EPA; and, Dr Annette Peters, GSF Germany). All reviewers provided positive responses to the report and did not identify any issues with the method used in the analysis. Most comments focused on interpretation and presentation of the results. These issues were relayed to the researchers and were addressed in the finalisation of the report for the EPHC in July 2010.

The study will provide useful information for the review of the Ambient Air Quality NEPM.

Time Activity Study

The Time Activity Study was a survey of in excess of 3000 people to provide statistically significant sociodemographic, time activity data (eg time outdoors, time doing heavy exercise during various time intervals over 24 hours) and data on key exposures related to ambient air and indoor air for male and female children, young adults and the ageing. The study was conducted in capital cities and selected regional cities where there is an identified ambient air problem. Information was also sought on health status related to medical conditions that may be affected by indoor or outdoor air quality (eg asthma, cardiovascular disease).

During the study, people were interviewed on two occasions, once during September 2002 and once during February 2003 to allow consideration of important seasonal differences.

The survey has provided statistically sound data that will enable an appraisal of exposure factors that will be relevant to setting air quality standards in Australia.

Copies of the data are available for use with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (.sav format).

VOC Emissions from Surface Coatings

Surface coating products generate 12% of total anthropogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions in Australia. VOC emissions contribute to ozone formation and the inability of some parts of Australia to meet ozone standards under the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure. Ground level ozone is associated with increased rates of disease and mortality. VOCs also include harmful air toxics. No safe levels of exposure to ozone have been identified and standards are more stringent overseas. Climate change is expected to exacerbate existing problems.

According to the National Pollutant Inventory, architectural coatings (primarily house paints) alone account for 47,000 tonnes of VOC emissions per year (10% of national VOC emissions from anthropogenic sources). They have become a proportionally larger contributor as a range of policy measures have reduced emissions from other major sources.

Internationally, limits on VOC emissions from paints have been enforced in Europe, the United States and Canada. In Australia, the VOC content in some paint products has been limited under the voluntary Australian Paint Approval Scheme (APAS). APAS standards are less stringent than US or European mandatory standards.

In 2007, the EPHC established a working group to investigate the need for national action to reduce VOC emissions from surface coatings. A technical study to support this project has now been completed and is available below.