The NEPC established national ambient air quality standards in 1998 as part of the National Environment Protection Measure for Ambient Air Quality (Air NEPM).
In a number of states, the agency responsible for monitoring air quality reports results at each station in its network in terms of an air quality index (AQI; Box ATM9) for all or some of the pollutants covered b
Carbon monoxide is not discussed in SoE 2016, because there has been little change since the 2011 report. Please refer to SoE 2011 for information on carbon monoxide.
Lead levels have declined since the early 1990s, because of the ban on lead in petrol for motor vehicles. Although isolated hotspots of lead concentrations still exist in locations where lead smelting is undertaken, some of these are also decreasing.
The major source of nitrogen dioxide in Australia is burning of the fossil fuels coal, oil and gas. In cities, the predominant source is on-road vehicle emissions. The standards were met at all compliance sites in 2010–14, and have not been exceeded since the early 1990s.
PM2.5 is the finer particulate fraction of PM. PM2.5 particles are smaller, and therefore able to be transported further and persist for longer in the atmosphere than PM10.
Ozone is a secondary pollutant formed through the interaction of VOCs (see ‘Volatile organic compounds’) and nitrogen oxides (NOx; see ‘Nitrogen dioxide’). The AQI for ozone in all capital cities was deemed ‘good’ from 1999 to 2008, and remained steady during this time.
Sulfur dioxide is not discussed in SoE 2016, because there has been little change since SoE 2011. Values in the capital cities are well below the Air NEPM standards.
VOCs are a group of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. Many common household materials and products, such as paints and cleaning products, give off VOCs.
Air toxics are pollutants that are usually present in ambient air in relatively low concentrations, but have characteristics such as toxicity or persistence that make them hazardous to human, plant or animal health.
Keywood MD, Emmerson KM, Hibberd MF (2016). Ambient air quality: Topics. In: Australia state of the environment 2016, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/ambient-air-quality/topics?framework=111, DOI 10.4226/94/58b65c70bc372