Air quality in Penrith

How bad is the air quality in Penrith?

Penrith is a city located within the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, within the Greater Western Sydney area, situated around 50 kilometres west of Sydney’s central business district (CBD). The city lies within North South Wales’ government’s Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE)’s air quality monitoring area of North-west Sydney. Like the rest of Australia, Penrith experiences relatively healthy air quality most of the year round, in comparison to global locations. However, this part of the world is also vulnerable to experiencing periodic intense air pollution events, most often as a consequence of phenomena such as wildfires and dust storms.

The main pollutants of concern within New South Wales, including Penrith, are particulate matter and ozone.¹ This is partly due to the health hazards these pollutants pose to populations around the world, but also because these pollutants most frequently exceed Australia’s national air quality standards, known as the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (Air NEPM), at various sites within New South Wales. Particulate matter describes microscopic particles measuring less than 2.5 or 10 microns in diameter, abbreviated as PM2.5 or PM10 respectively. For context, that makes PM2.5 as small as approximately one thirtieth of the width of a human hair. These particles are particularly hazardous to human health since their miniscule size enables them to penetrate far into the human system, entering the lungs and, in the case of PM2.5, moving further into the bloodstream, causing a range of health effects.

How does Penrith’s air quality compare to other locations?

When considered as part of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan area, Penrith’s air quality ranked as the 15th most polluted for PM2.5 pollution, of a list of 95 reported Australian cities within IQAir’s 2019 World Air Quality Report. Sydney averaged an annual PM2.5 concentration of 10.1 μg/m³ across all its monitoring stations in 2019 in the report, which exceeds Australia’s national air quality standard for annual PM2.5, of a target limit of 8 μg/m³. It also exceeds the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s less stringent annual target of 10 μg/m³. For comparison, Sydney’s 2019 average ranked as more polluted than those of Brisbane’s air pollution (8.1 μg/m³) and Melbourne (6.5 μg/m³) during the same year, although Sydney remained at a lower level than the capital Canberra’s air quality that year (13.6 μg/m³).

What are the health effects of Penrith air pollution?

Exposure to air pollution can contribute towards a wide range of health effects, both short- and long-term. Short-term exposure to particle pollution can cause the irritation of eyes, nose and throat, coughing among other respiratory symptoms, shortness of breath, and the aggravation of existing conditions such as asthma. Long-term exposure can further contribute to increased risk of developing respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, increased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; referring to a group of diseases that cause breathing difficulties, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), as well as reduced lung function development in children and adults.¹

What are the main sources of air pollution in Penrith?

The main contributors to New South Wales air pollution from PM2.5, including Penrith, include emissions from residential wood heating, coal mining, electricity generation, vehicle exhaust, industry, and bushfires and hazard reduction burns, according to the New South Wales government.¹ Given the prominence of residential wood heating in contributing to ambient particle pollution, regulation has been established across Australia and in NSW state to limit the emissions from wood heaters and encourage responsible burning.²

Is Penrith affected by the fires in Australia?

Australia has long been affected by wildfires, with an established fire season. Australia wildfires are most often ignited via natural causes, like a stroke of lightning, although they are also often begun as a result of human actions. This could be accidental, such as setting an unintended spark, or deliberate, through planned burning or arson. During the summer of 2019-2020, Australia experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons on record, following several months of drought, low rainfall and record-breaking temperatures. Penrith was one site to record one of the highest temperatures during this period: on 4 January 2020, Penrith recorded a peak temperature of 48.9°C, temporarily registering as the hottest place in the world.³ The Greater Sydney region was heavily affected by smoke from the bushfires during this period. One study found that due to respiratory problems aggravated by the bushfire smoke, emergency department admissions within the capital region increased by more than 50% during times of peak bushfire activity.⁴

What is Penrith doing about air pollution?

The New South Wales government is responsible for monitoring air quality across the state, with the objective to ensure that the state’s air quality achieves the country’s national NEPM standards, and take remedial actions where necessary to improve local air quality. Accordingly, the government has established a statewide network of governmental monitors at key sites. A monitoring station was established in Penrith as of June 2020, situated at the corner of Laycock Street and Shellbourne Place in Cranebrook area. The station measures a wide range of air pollution and meteorological parameters, including PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen oxides (NO, NO₂ and NO_x), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), visibility, wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and precipitation.⁵

Does Penrith use an air quality index?

The New South Wales government previously used an air quality index (AQI) system to report air quality information to the public, using the national Australia AQI system.⁶ However, as of November 2020, New South Wales switched to using a system of ‘air quality categories’ (AQC) to communicate air quality levels instead.⁷ Therefore, instead of reporting Penrith’s air pollutant information as a Penrith Air Quality Index number (or Penrith AQI), Penrith’s data is instead expressed as one of five categories, intended to quickly convey the level of health hazard posed by ambient air pollutants. New South Wales’ AQCs are colour-coded, ranging from “Good” (green), up to “Extremely poor” (deep red). The AQCs are calculated for each pollutant measured at a site, and the highest (or most hazardous) category result from the range of pollutants will dictate the overall category indication for that monitoring site. In this way, the NSW government strives to simplify air pollution measurements and communicate these to the public in a way that quickly enables those in Australia to understand the hazard posed by ambient air pollution, and react when necessary to protect health.

+ Article resources

[1] NSW Government. “Consultation paper: Clean Air for NSW”. NSW Government EPA website, 2016.
[2] NSW Government. “What regulations apply to wood-burning heaters in the home?” NSW Government DPIE website, February 25, 2019.
[3] Paul Sadler. “Black summer: Fighting the Australian bushfires”. Vertical Magazine, May 25, 2020.
[4] Evelyn Lewin. “’Black Summer’ caused almost $2 billion in smoke-related health costs”. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners website, December 1, 2020.
[5] NSW Government. “Penrith air quality monitoring station”. NSW Government website, November 13, 2020.
[6] Australian Government. “Air quality index: Ambient air quality (2016)”. Australia State of the Environment 2016 website.
[7] NSW Government DPIE. “Air quality concentration data – updated hourly”. NSW Government DPIE website, n.d.