Monitoring for air toxics

As part of EPA Victoria’s commitment to protecting the environment, we have been conducting an air quality monitoring campaign to better understand pollutants known as air toxics.

EPA has been measuring air toxics in Victoria for several years and has found that:

• concentrations of air toxics are generally low
• concentrations are below the health based National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) monitoring investigation levels.

The purpose of monitoring is to gather information about the concentrations and distribution of air toxics compounds in our environment; this is part of a national program, under the National Environment Protection (Air Toxics Measure) or NEPM.

The information gathered will be used to set new national air quality standards for air toxics. See the National Environment Protection and Heritage Council website for more relevant health and legislative information on air toxics.

The air toxics monitored consist of the following compounds:

• Benzene
• Benzo(a)pyrene (a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon)
• Formaldehyde
• Toluene
• Xylene (as a total of the meta, para and ortho isomers)

These compounds are commonly found at low levels in the atmosphere and are of concern because of their toxicity. These compounds are found in petrol and some solvents and produced as a by-product of combustion processes which include; exhaust from cars and trucks, wood heaters and other solid fuel burning, and industry.

The NEPM specifies that the selected air toxics be monitored for 24-hour periods once every six days for 12 consecutive months, or once very three days covering two seasons (winter and summer). The NEPM requires that monitoring for air toxics be undertaken at locations where elevated levels are likely to occur and where there is likelihood of significant population exposure

The following sites were monitored for the purposes of the NEPM:

• Eltham, and Mooroolbark, suburbs where wood heaters are commonly used.
• Newport and Spotswood, two sites close to petrol storage facilities.
• Carlton and South Melbourne, two sites beside major roads
• Campbellfield, one site beside a major truck route.
• Traralgon, a regional centre located near major power generators.

EPA has also monitored air toxics as part of other projects (prior to the implementation of the NEPM), including:

• Springvale Road in Nunawading, to measure traffic impacts near a busy intersection.
• Westgate Freeway in Brooklyn, to measure traffic impact from a freeway.
• Schools in Corio, to measure the impact of petrol refining.
  
  
  

  See a list of publications covering these projects.

Air toxics monitoring sites

Corio Campaign projects: Four locations selected in the Corio region to measure the impact of a major refinery on air quality.

Roadside projects: Sites where a mobile air monitoring station was used for shorter term "hot-spot" monitoring near busy roads.

NEPM projects: Sites chosen for one year monitoring of air toxics for the National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) program.

Monitoring has also been completed at the existing Alphington, Footscray and Altona North air monitoring stations.

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