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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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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