The air we breathe is vital to our health, wellbeing, and environment – but who is making sure Queensland’s air is ‘quality’ and how do they do it?

It’s a complex balance of living in a modern world with many emission sources and regulating what we do to ensure a healthy environment.

This blog is here to answer your common questions about air quality in Queensland, from the science behind air quality monitoring to the regulations that help reduce pollution.

What is air quality?

Air quality refers to the condition of the air. ‘Good’ and ‘poor’ air quality (and everything in between) is generally influenced by two key factors:

• Pollutants from people and our activities.
• Naturally occurring factors like bushfires or dust storms.

Generally, good air quality is characterised by low levels of pollutants (such as various chemicals, gases, or particles), and poor air quality contains higher concentrations that can be harmful to our health or the environment.

Air pollutants

We measure air quality by monitoring air pollutant levels and weather conditions. This information helps identify potential risks to human health or the environment.

Generally, air pollutants can be a result of combustion or non-combustion sources.

Combustion sources involve some type of ignition, and often include processes like fire, engines, power stations, or wood heaters. Even firing up a barbecue or starting a mower at home is a combustion process that can impact air quality.

Non-combustion activities don’t involve ignition, and are often from physical processes such as earthworks, bulk material handling, or events such as windblown dust.

Some important pollutants we monitor include:

Particulate matter

Particulate matter is a mixture of solid and liquid particles that are suspended in the air. At elevated levels, they can be hazardous to human health or cause nuisance. Particulate matter measurement is the concentration of particles in the air, regardless of the composition of the particle.

This matter is usually grouped into two size distributions: PM_2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter) and PM₁₀ (particles less than 10 micrometres in diameter). These particles can come from combustion or non-combustion processes.

Ozone

Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless gas that’s formed when substances containing carbon (such as petrol, gas, coal, and wood) are burned with an insufficient supply of air. Motor vehicles are the main source of carbon monoxide pollution in urban areas – and it’s also found in cigarette smoke.

Nitrogen oxides

This refers to gases (namely nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) that are produced from natural sources, motor vehicles, and other fuel-burning processes.

Hydrogen sulfide

If you’ve ever smelt hydrogen sulfide, you’re sure to remember it – it's a stinky, colourless gas that often gets compared to rotten eggs. It can be produced by decomposing organic material (like composting), sewage treatment, agricultural activities, or from the natural environment.

Sulfur dioxide

This is a colourless gas with a sharp, irritating odour at high concentrations. It is produced by burning fossil fuels and smelting of mineral ores that contain sulfur.

Metals may occur as vapours or particles in the air – this is usually a result of mining, metal casting, or industrial processes that contribute to metal emissions. These may include metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, or nickel.

Air quality monitoring

As Queensland’s environmental regulator, we monitor the quality of the air in the environment using a statewide network of air and weather monitoring stations. They gather data 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

These stations collect important air quality parameters such as pollutant and particulate matter concentrations, as well as meteorological parameters that may impact air quality such as humidity, rainfall, temperature, plus wind direction and speed. This data is then validated and analysed by air quality scientists that look at air quality trends and compare measured data against air quality standards.

National air quality standards set strict guidelines about acceptable levels of air pollutants in Queensland to safeguard human health and the natural environment. These standards are benchmarks that help manage short- or long-term air quality issues at a local, regional, or national level, and help us to identify when levels may be unsafe, or cause issues for the community.

In Queensland, the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure for is used for health-base standards to identify risks to human health. We also use the Environment Protection Quality (Air) which sets objectives for safeguarding environmental values.

In many cases, the standards we use vary for pollutants, and may use a specific threshold or time-weighted average (e.g. an average over a 24-hour period). Standards need to consider different exposures that may result in different health effects – for example short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic) effects.

Standards may also account for the effects of pollutants at different levels. At low levels some pollutants may cause odours or irritation, while higher levels (or over a longer period) may impact health.

You can view real-time data from Queensland’s air monitoring network, health action level, and read more about air quality on Live air data.

Regulating air quality

Our role is to not just monitor air quality, but to also regulate it.

We continuously monitor the quality of the air across Queensland to detect and understand pollution levels and take steps to address impacts to air quality. There are scientifically backed regulations in place to help us determine when something isn’t right, hold industries accountable, and keep the public safe.

We monitor and regulate air quality in Queensland by:

• monitoring air pollutants using a statewide network of advanced air monitoring and weather stations. These stations collect data on various pollutants and meteorological conditions that affect air quality, as well as provide real-time data for immediate issues.
• setting and regulating air quality standards (e.g. limits on pollutants) to protect public health and the environment
• imposing air emission limits on environmental authorities (licence conditions) provided to the industries based on national and international best practice source emission standards
• undertaking compliance and enforcement to ensure that industries are doing the right thing, and that penalties are enforced when air quality exceeds limits (e.g. ensuring that operators have proper dust suppression procedures or manage emissions appropriately)
• improving public awareness of air quality, such as what influences the air we breathe and how you can protect yourself when air quality may be impacted (e.g. dust storms or bushfires).

Watch the video to learn more about:

• Queensland’s air quality monitoring network
• how weather influences air quality
• pollution events.