Publications
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2005
ISBN 0642551308
The substances on the NPI list have been chosen because of their health and environmental effects. The NPI gives an annual, nationwide snapshot of these substance emissions, which helps policy makers and the community find information on specific substances, and see whether these emissions decrease over time.
In the 2003-04 reporting year, total reported emissions for about half of the 90 NPI substances had decreased compared with the previous year.
Of the 46 substances that had increased emissions, 29 were only required to be reported for the last three years. This may indicate that facilities are still adjusting to the reporting of the new substances.
Substances that had a significant decrease in total emissions and a similar number of reporting facilities as last year include lead and compounds and toluene (methylbenzene).
Substances that had a significant increase in total emissions and a similar number of reporters as last year include acetaldehyde, acetone and methanol.
Changes in emissions can be due to a number of reasons including the installation of new pollution control equipment, better estimation of emissions and changes in facility operations.
Australian Environment Ministers have listed formaldehyde as an air toxic pollutant. Air toxic pollutants have been shown to be responsible for a range of health problems, including asthma, respiratory illnesses and cancer. Exposure to formaldehyde can be by inhalation of fumes, particularly indoors where concentrations can build up due to poor ventilation. Indoor environments consistently have higher concentrations than outdoor environments, because many building materials, consumer products, and fabrics emit formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde is emitted mainly to air. However, there are also some emissions to land and water by industry.
The primary source of formaldehyde emissions is domestic wood burning followed by motor vehicles. The Australian Government is focusing on improving community awareness of the impacts of air pollution and how to improve air quality. There are programmes to help minimize smoke from wood heaters and reduce pollution from motor vehicles.
There was a 24 per cent decrease in the emissions of formaldehyde from industry, and a three per cent increase in the number of facilities reporting formaldehyde in the 2003-04 reporting year.
Industry accounts for 11 per cent of all the estimated emissions of formaldehyde 1. In 2003-04, the largest source of formaldehyde emissions was the other wood product manufacturing sector, followed by the electricity supply sector. The total emissions of formaldehyde have decreased over the past few years, although emissions from some sectors did increase. The major industry sources of formaldehyde are shown on the graph below (remember that these do not include indoor sources which is where higher concentrations are normally found).
1 Based on airshed studies completed to date.