- Title
- Changes in air quality due to closure of a major industry
- Creator
- Sajjadi, Seyed Ali; Bridgman, Howard A.; Sadeghi, Nasrin
- Relation
- International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine and Public Health Vol. 4, Issue 6, p. 1196-1214
- Relation
- http://www.iomcworld.com/ijcrimph/june2012.htm
- Publisher
- DRUNPP
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- Introduction: This paper describes the impacts of the closure of a major industry on air quality in the Lower Hunter Region. BHP Rod and Bar was recognized as the most important source of particulate matter (PM₁₀, bsp), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) in Newcastle before it closed in October 1999. Objective: This study investigated the impacts of the closure of a major industry, a steel works in Newcastle, on air quality in the Lower Hunter Region, New South Wales. Method: A combined three-station data set for these pollutants for 3.5 years before and after closure allowed a comparison of daily and data set averages, using both the measured data, and a Mixed Model to calculate significant changes in the time series by month. Result: PM₁₀ increased after BHP closure by 13.2%, an unexpected result, but the post closure data set was influenced by summer bushfires. bsp decreased by 10.2%, reflecting the reduction is emissions due to industrial burning processes. This result was verified by a separate PM₂.₅ data set which showed significant reductions in elemental carbon and soil source components. SO₂ concentrations dropped by 40.2% after closure, a change which verified the importance of BHP as a source. Despite the industry being a major source of NO₂, there was no significant change of this pollutant after closure, suggesting dominance of other sources. Conclusion: Air pollution in the region is caused by different sources. Further research into the role of meteorology and quantifying changes in the range of sources is recommended.
- Subject
- industry; particulate matter; NOx; SO₂; Lower Hunter; BHP
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1297043
- Identifier
- uon:19361
- Identifier
- ISSN:1840-4529
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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