Air quality in Cronulla

How bad is the air quality in Cronulla?

Cronulla is a seaside suburb of Sydney within New South Wales, located on a peninsula surrounded by several bays including Botany Bay to the north, lying southwards from Sydney’s central business district. As with much of Australia, Cronulla and New South Wales experience relatively healthy air quality during the majority of the year, when compared with other global locations.

The main types of air pollution of concern within New South Wales, including Cronulla, are particle pollution and ozone. This is not only because of the health hazards these particular pollutants pose to populations worldwide, but also because these types of pollution most frequently exceed the air quality standards set by the Australian government, known as the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (Air NEPM).¹ The Air NEPM were established in 1998 (with some revisions since then), to benchmark the levels of various key pollutants at a guideline level aimed to minimise health impacts on the population, based on scientific research. Therefore, exceedances of these standards indicates some reason for concern, and highlights areas where improvements to air quality can be made.

Live air quality information can be found in the Cronulla air quality map at the top of this page, which incorporates satellite air pollution data along with real-time wildfire updates. These can be followed on-the-go using the IQAir AirVisual air pollution app, along with a 7-day Cronulla air quality forecast.

How does Cronulla’s air quality compare to other places?

As a suburb of Sydney, Greater Sydney’s historical air quality data records offer an indicative measure of Cronulla’s air quality over time. According to IQAir’s 2019 World Air Quality Report, Sydney ranked as the 15th most polluted city in Australia for PM2.5 pollution, of a list of 95 reported Australian cities, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 10.1 μg/m³.² PM2.5 describes particulate matter, meaning airborne particles that can have a range of chemical makeups, which measure less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Another key type of particulate matter (PM) is PM10, referring to particles less than 10 microns in diameter. These forms of pollution are known to be particularly harmful to human health, since their microscopic size enables them to travel deep into the human system once inhaled, entering the lungs and, in the case of PM2.5, travelling further into the bloodstream, causing a range of health effects.

To put Sydney’s 2019 reading into context, representative of the air quality within the Cronulla suburb, its average concentration of 10.1 μg/m³ exceeds the Australian NEPM annual standard for PM2.5, of 8 μg/m³, in addition to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s slightly less stringent international guideline of 10 μg/m³. Sydney’s 2019 air quality marked a noticeable increase from its previous years’ average level, of 7.6 μg/m³ (2018) and 7.1 μg/m³ (2017). This increase may be partly attributed to the devastating wildfires that occurred towards the latter part of 2019 and into 2020 across Australia and particularly affecting New South Wales, which led these months later to be known as Australia’s “black summer”. During 2019, Sydney’s air quality ranked as more polluted than other state capitals Brisbane’s air quality (8.1 μg/m³) and Melbourne’s PM2.5 air pollution (6.5 μg/m³); however, its PM2.5 pollution remained lower than the national capital, Canberra’s air pollution, which ranked as Australia’s 3rd most polluted city for PM2.5 in 2019, with an average concentration of 15 μg/m³.

What are the health effects of Cronulla air pollution?

Exposure to air pollution can cause a range of health effects, both short- and long-term. Even at the relatively low level found across much of Australia most of the year round, including Cronulla and New South Wales, air pollution can pose health risks; the World Health Organisation (WHO) emphasises that there is no known “safe” limit for air pollution, particularly particle pollution, below which no negative health impacts may be observed.³ Short-term effects of exposure to particle pollution include aggravation of existing conditions such as asthma, irritation of nose, throat and eyes, coughing and other respiratory effects, and negative effects on the cardiovascular system. Long-term effects of exposure to PM pollution can include an increased risk of developing diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, referring to a group of diseases leading to breathing difficulties, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema), and reduced lung function development.¹

What are the main sources of air pollution in Cronulla?

The main contributors to New South Wales’ particle pollution are estimated to be emissions from residential wood heating, industry, coal mining, electricity generation, and planned burning and bushfires, according to the NSW government.¹ A study focused on Sydney specifically found that the composition of the city’s regional PM2.5 varied slightly by season, with summer PM2.5 levels consisting largely of sea salt (34%) and organic matter (34%), with the remainder coming from secondary inorganic aerosol, soil, and elemental carbon. Conversely, autumn particles were more strongly composed from organic matter (57%), an increase which can likely be attributed to an increase of residential wood heater smoke emissions, during the colder months. The remainder of autumn PM2.5 were composed from higher levels of elemental carbon, the same amount of secondary inorganic aerosol, half as much soil, and notably less sea salt (5%).⁴

What is Cronulla doing about air pollution?

Cronulla’s air quality is governed by both national Australian legislation such as the National Clean Air Agreement, which was established in December 2015, and further supported by involvement from the New South Wales government at a state level, and Sutherlandshire Council at the local level.⁵ The NSW government is responsible to operate a network of air quality monitors across key locations statewide, to try to ensure that the state’s air quality achieves the national NEPM objectives, and intervene with actions to improve local air quality where necessary. Currently, there is no government monitoring station in Cronulla specifically, although the government does operate several monitors at other locations around Sydney. Some of the closest government monitoring stations to Cronulla include those at Liverpool and Campbelltown West; although, the government’s monitoring is also being supplemented by some additional community air monitoring stations, some of which are closer to Cronulla. These community sensors are reported within the Cronulla and New South Wales air quality map above. The Sutherlandshire Council is also involved in sharing information resources on local air pollution issues, such as the proper installation and usage of wood heaters to minimise smoke emissions and responsible backyard burning; the Council also has authority to investigate air pollution complaints and audit local businesses to check compliance with air pollution regulation.⁶

+ Article resources

[1] NSW Government. “Consultation paper: Clean Air for NSW”. NSW Government EPA website, 2016.
[2] IQAir. “2019 World Air Quality Report”. IQAir website, March 18, 2020.
[3] World Health Organisation. “Ambient (outdoor) air pollution”. WHO website, May 2, 2018.
[4] Clare Paton-Walsh et al. “A Clean Air Plan for Sydney: An Overview of the Special Issue on Air Quality in New South Wales”. Atmosphere 10(12): 774, December 4, 2019. DOI: 10.3390/atmos10120774
[5] Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water & the Environment. “National Clean Air Agreement”. Australian Government DAWE website, n.d.
[6] Sutherlandshire Council. “Air pollution”. Sutherlandshire Council website, n.d.