Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney

Air quality was measured in Auburn, a western suburb of Sydney, Australia, for approximately eighteen months during 2016 and 2017. A long open-path infrared spectrometer sampled path-averaged concentrations of several gaseous species, while other pollutants such as PM<inline-formula> <math...

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Main Authors: Maximilien Desservettaz, Frances Phillips, Travis Naylor, Owen Price, Stephanie Samson, John Kirkwood, Clare Paton-Walsh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/9/557
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spelling doaj-c4426ababf564ca9b84229356030dd8a2020-11-25T02:45:29ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332019-09-0110955710.3390/atmos10090557atmos10090557Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western SydneyMaximilien Desservettaz0Frances Phillips1Travis Naylor2Owen Price3Stephanie Samson4John Kirkwood5Clare Paton-Walsh6Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaCentre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaCentre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaCentre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaCentre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaOffice of Environment and Heritage, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, AustraliaCentre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, AustraliaAir quality was measured in Auburn, a western suburb of Sydney, Australia, for approximately eighteen months during 2016 and 2017. A long open-path infrared spectrometer sampled path-averaged concentrations of several gaseous species, while other pollutants such as PM<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mrow> <mn>2.5</mn> </mrow> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> and PM<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mn>10</mn> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> were sampled by a mobile air quality station. The measurement site was impacted by a number of indoor wood-heating smoke events during cold winter nights as well as some major smoke events from hazard reduction burning in the spring of 2017. In this paper we compare the atmospheric composition during these different smoke pollution events and assess the relative overall impact on air quality from domestic wood-heaters and prescribed forest fires during the campaign. No significant differences in the composition of smoke from these two sources were identified in this study. Despite the hazard reduction burning events causing worse peak pollution levels, we find that the overall exposure to air toxins was greater from domestic wood-heaters due to their higher frequency and total duration. Our results suggest that policy-makers should place a greater focus on reducing wood-smoke pollution in Sydney and on communicating the issue to the public.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/9/557long open-path FTIRsmokeair quality
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Maximilien Desservettaz
Frances Phillips
Travis Naylor
Owen Price
Stephanie Samson
John Kirkwood
Clare Paton-Walsh
spellingShingle Maximilien Desservettaz
Frances Phillips
Travis Naylor
Owen Price
Stephanie Samson
John Kirkwood
Clare Paton-Walsh
Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
Atmosphere
long open-path FTIR
smoke
air quality
author_facet Maximilien Desservettaz
Frances Phillips
Travis Naylor
Owen Price
Stephanie Samson
John Kirkwood
Clare Paton-Walsh
author_sort Maximilien Desservettaz
title Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
title_short Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
title_full Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
title_fullStr Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
title_full_unstemmed Air Quality Impacts of Smoke from Hazard Reduction Burns and Domestic Wood Heating in Western Sydney
title_sort air quality impacts of smoke from hazard reduction burns and domestic wood heating in western sydney
publisher MDPI AG
series Atmosphere
issn 2073-4433
publishDate 2019-09-01
description Air quality was measured in Auburn, a western suburb of Sydney, Australia, for approximately eighteen months during 2016 and 2017. A long open-path infrared spectrometer sampled path-averaged concentrations of several gaseous species, while other pollutants such as PM<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mrow> <mn>2.5</mn> </mrow> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> and PM<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mn>10</mn> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> were sampled by a mobile air quality station. The measurement site was impacted by a number of indoor wood-heating smoke events during cold winter nights as well as some major smoke events from hazard reduction burning in the spring of 2017. In this paper we compare the atmospheric composition during these different smoke pollution events and assess the relative overall impact on air quality from domestic wood-heaters and prescribed forest fires during the campaign. No significant differences in the composition of smoke from these two sources were identified in this study. Despite the hazard reduction burning events causing worse peak pollution levels, we find that the overall exposure to air toxins was greater from domestic wood-heaters due to their higher frequency and total duration. Our results suggest that policy-makers should place a greater focus on reducing wood-smoke pollution in Sydney and on communicating the issue to the public.
topic long open-path FTIR
smoke
air quality
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/9/557
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