About this Manual

The aggregated emissions manuals complement the NPI Industry handbooks, and are intended to enable State and Territory Governments to estimate emissions from non-industrial activities (e.g. transportation, domestic and commercial activities) and emissions from industry which are not reported because the relevant thresholds are not exceeded.

Products containing solvents are used in a variety of domestic and commercial applications. Solvents within these products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are emitted to the atmosphere when these products are used. The following groups of domestic/commercial solvent and aerosol products are covered by this handbook:
- personal care products;
- household cleaning products;
- motor vehicle aftermarket products;
- adhesive and sealant products;
- pesticide and herbicide products;
- coatings and related products; and
- miscellaneous products.

Emissions from the use of architectural surface coatings and coatings used in motor vehicle refinishing work are addressed in other NPI AE manuals. In particular, motor vehicle touch-up paints, sanding primers, engine enamels and other aerosol coatings used on motor vehicles are addressed in the EET Manual for Aggregated Emissions from Motor Vehicle Refinishing.

Similarly, an NPI AE manual has been prepared for estimating emissions from the industrial use of solvents by those facilities that are not required to report to jurisdictions under the NEPM (i.e. 'sub-threshold' industrial activities).

Estimating emissions from broad-acre and horticultural application of pesticides is not addressed in this manual. The EETs and emission factors presented in this manual relate only to solvents in domestic and commercial application of pesticides.

First published in November 1999
National Pollutant Inventory
Environment Australia

Application of the Manual

Each of the aggregated emissions manuals provides details of:

• the NPI substances that are expected to be emitted from the relevant aggregated source type;
• the origins or sources of the emissions, and the processes that may generate them;
• the impacts of any control equipment or procedures on those emissions;
• the broad approaches that may be employed in the estimation and spatial allocation of emissions;
• details of emission factors to be used in the estimation of emissions; and
• a series of illustrative sample calculations for each estimation technique.