The Black Summer bushfires had a significant impact on air quality in the ACT and wood heater smoke continues to be an environmental and health issue, according to a new report from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
The EPA said its ACT Air Quality Report 2020 found the major air quality issue last year was particle pollution (both PM10 and PM2.5) from January to early February, primarily associated with the 2019–2020 summer bushfires.
The Authority said while concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide increased during the bushfire period, the associated Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) National Environment Protection Measures (NEPM) standards were met on 99.5 per cent of days during the year.
“Though more nitrogen dioxide and ozone exceedances were recorded in the ACT, the overall levels for those two pollutants in 2020 decreased compared with 2019,” the EPA said.
“This is possibly due to less vehicle traffic and other human activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and the cooler temperatures in the second half of 2020,” it said.
The EPA said the daily PM2.5 NEPM standard was exceeded on 39 days last year and, excluding the 26 days directly associated with bushfires, 13 days were related to wood heater emissions.
Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti said NEPM standards were only exceeded due to wood heater emissions on two days in 2019 and one day in 2018.
“Wood burning smoke is made up of a mixture of gases and fine particles which can be harmful to the environment and the health of people, especially those with heart or lung diseases,” Ms Vassarotti said.
The EPA’s 53-page Report can be accessed on the Access Canberra website at this PS News link.
