Pollution is a concern for everyone 

This is the conclusion following the release of an air pollution report in Muswellbrook on Friday and a two day forum on the topic in Newcastle this week.

The report, conducted by the CSIRO and Australian National Nuclear Research and Development Organisation (ANSTO)  and jointly funded by NSW Health and the Officer of Environment and Heritage, focussed on the tiny particulate matter (PM 2.5) and did not include coal dust.

The study focussed on the very fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and put simply, coal dust is larger.

The reason is that these very fine particles are the ones that can have serious impacts on human health and the ones scientists, in their brief, were directed to focus on.

The study clearly demonstrates that there are various sources of contribution and that there is no threshold of any level that doesn’t impact health.

The study was conducted because there are multiple sources of PM 2.5, including mining, coal fired power generation, diesel vehicles, road and rail transport, solid fuel heaters and prescribed burning in the Upper Hunter and is a step toward understanding  the combination of sources.

The report showed that half the air pollution in Singleton comes from a combination of power station emissions, vehicle emissions and woodsmoke. 

The full breakdown was:  secondary sulphate (power station and vehicle emission) 20%; vehicle and industry 17%; woodsmoke 14%;  industry aged sea salt 18%; soil 12 %; biomass smoke (bushfires)  8 %; sea salt 8%  and secondary nitrate  3% (more power station and vehicle emissions).

CSIRO’s Dr Mark Hibberd is a member of the NSW Health expert advisory committee on air pollution and said the presence of woodsmoke was anticipated but what wasn’t was the level of regional power station emissions.

Given particulate matter travels long distances, it is not just the power stations in the immediate area that are having an impact.

“This is not just Bayswater, this is regional secondary sulphate and the study indicates it is coming from a far more regional area,” Dr Hibberd said.

The big question on everyone’s lips is what effects are these PM 2.5 emissions having on their own health and that of their children and there is no definitive answer.

There is no PM2.5 threshold.

Spokesperson for Singleton Shire Healthy Environment Group John Drinan said a clear message needs to be sent  to government that health impact assessments must accompany all development applications in relation to the mining and power industries.

“Not only should that assessment be done on an individual basis but it should also include how it will contribute to the existing load of PM 2.5s,” Dr Drinan said.

“Given what we have heard at the forum, while the PM10s don’t have as great an impact on health as the PM2.5s, there is growing evidence these coarser particles are also having some impact on health,” he said.

The forum earlier this week facilitated by the Hunter Medical Research Institute was addressed by Professor  C. Arden Pope from Brigham Young University , the author of many research papers on the relationship between particulates and health outcomes, Professor Ross Anderson, a respiratory epidemiologist with an interest in asthma and health effects of air pollution, and Professor Bert Brunkreef from the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands.

All the presentations are available on the HMRI website.

Woodsmoke reduction will improve air quality

WHILE woodsmoke pollution during winter is far worse in Muswellbrook than Singleton, it is still one of the  top three contributors to pollution and there is much the community can do to improve that figure.

Singleton Council’s planning manager Mark Ihlein said while it was reasonable to ask industry to improve their industrial activities, it was also reasonable to ask the same of the community.

“Industry has strategies in place and a dust reduction target of 85 per cent which they say they can achieve and I think the community can also act to help improve air quality,” Mr Ihlein said.

Council already has a woodsmoke strategy to better educate residents and this campaign is likely to be ramped up leading into the next winter.

“It is not about telling people they can’t have their open fires but about having their fires working properly and not burning wet wood or rubbish,” he said. 

“Over the next 12 months we will be looking at opportunities for a sustainable Singleton and I have no doubt one of those strategies is to look at  opportunities to better vegetate  the area and there are plenty of areas we can do this, the more trees you have the better the air.”