Revealing the sources of air pollution

It  is now possible to not only determine the source of pollution via a chemical composition ‘fingerprint,’ but to also quantify that source’s total contribution of fine particles in a specific location. In short, individual polluters can be identified and the fine particles originating from those polluters can be measured.

As atmospheric fine particle pollution has significant impacts on our lives, there has been significant progress over the last decade to better identify its sources and hold polluters accountable. Increased computing power with new algorithms that handle big data sets has played an important role in advancing these studies.

Fine particles in our atmosphere can travel hundreds of kilometres every day. Their monitoring is crucial as they have significant impact on both human health and the environment. Over the last decade, nuclear techniques for studying fine particles in the atmosphere have improved significantly, moving from simply analysing their chemical composition to combining meteorological data, such as wind patterns and trajectory with statistical modelling, to define where the pollution actually came from.

Over more than a decade, David Cohen and his team at ANSTO have collected samples in the Richmond area of western Sydney. By using these combinatory techniques of analysing the particles’ chemical composition and taking account of meteorological data with statistical modelling, they are able to quantify the effects of air pollution.

According to Cohen, there are a number of key issues why the study of fine particles is so important. They are absorbed deeply into the lungs and can have health impacts; they can affect visibility; they can be transported long distances; and they have also been associated with climate change.

His team’s demonstration project has found that up to half of the total sulfate air pollution in the greater Sydney region can be attributed to emissions from NSW’s eight coal-fired power stations. Despite being located many kilometres outside of the greater Sydney metropolitan area, these coal-fired power stations have a significant impact on air quality in the CBD areas of Sydney. This information is used by air quality managers to inform pollution control measures and decision-making.

The full ANSTO report, ‘Revealing the source of Sydney’s pollution’, is available at http://www.ansto.gov.au/AboutANSTO/News/ACS049674.