March 2011 Launceston's Air Quality

EIANZ (Tas), with sponsorship from the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand, ran a very interesting seminar in Launceston on 31 March 2011. The theme for the seminar was "Further Improving Launceston's Air Quality" with three speakers covering the monitoring, management and health consequences of smoke from planned burns. We had an appreciative audience of 28, with many questions.

Dr John Innis from the EPA Division discussed the Tasmanian BLANkET air monitoring network. This impressive network of over 20 monitoring stations provides real-time particle concentration measurements which can be accessed through the EPA Division website. Fine particles (PM2.5) and coarse particles (PM10) are measured at each station along with various meteorological parameters. This allows regular monitoring of smoke as well as tracking of smoke plumes and identification of sources of smoke causing air quality problems in populated areas.

Graham Wilkinson, from the Forest Practices Authority, provided an overview of the State's Coordinated Smoke Management System (CSMS). Tasmania is divided into 11 airsheds and Bureau of Meteorology data is used to calculate the capacity of each airshed to dissipate smoke each day. CSMS participants place bids to burn on a particular day, once the capacity of the airshed is full no further bids are taken. The CSMS is a voluntary program at present, but it might become required for all burns done through the forest practices plans. Unfortunately agricultural burns are not included. Trials of the CSMS began in 2008 and the System is constantly being refined to improve its effectiveness.

Dr James Markos, a respiratory physician and chairman of the Australian Lung Foundation (Tas) spoke of the health impacts of fine particles in wood smoke. Smoke is known to aggravate asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, cause breathing problems and increase the risk of lung cancer. Epidemiological studies in Australia and many other countries continue to show the harm that fine particles in the air can do to our health. The severe winter air quality problems in Launceston in the 1980s and '90s are now a thing of the past thanks to a large reduction in the number of homes using woodheaters and improvements in industrial emissions. However, smoke from bushfires and planned burns occasionally blankets Launceston at other times of the year.