Monitoring the air for toluene
Toluene is a component of petrol and is commonly found in industrial solvents. Average toluene concentrations measured at each monitoring site appear in the chart below. Average concentrations are presented as this is the basis on which the health based monitoring investigation level is set.
To date all results are well below the health based monitoring investigation level.
Annual average toluene concentrations for EPA’s toluene studies
ppb: parts per billion (for every one billion litres of air there is one litre of the pollutant)
Note: Some projects ran for less than twelve months. More information on individual projects is available.
| Sample date | Location | Average toluene concentration (ppb) |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Alphington | 2.1 |
| 2003 | Footscray | 1.2 |
| 2003/04 | Nunawading (Springvale Road) | 3.1 |
| 2004 | Brooklyn (Westgate Freeway) | 6.0 |
| 2004/05 | Corio | 1.0 |
| 2005/06 | Eltham | 1.8 |
| 2006 | Newport | 4.3 |
| 2006 | Spotswood | 2.2 |
| 2006/07 | Carlton | 2.4 |
| 2006/07 | South Melbourne | 1.6 |
| 2007 | Traralgon | 0.3 |
| National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) investigation level (annual average) | 100.0 | |
ppb: parts per billion (for every one billion litres of air there is one litre of the pollutant)
Air quality summary
Tuesday 24 November 2009: Summary for the 24 hours to 3 PM: FAIR air quality at Footscray (due to local dust), and GOOD air quality elsewhere.
Forecast: GOOD air quality is expected in Melbourne tomorrow [Wednesday]