Page 3837 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 19 October 2005
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an inconvenience and belittles the real health hazards involved. The current and previous governments have done significant work over recent years to reduce the amount of smoke pollution in Canberra. Canberra, along with Armidale and Launceston, is one of the cities in Australia especially noted for its high pollution levels of wood smoke particulates. The health risks from this type of pollution are very real. It is also widely understood that the geography of Canberra, an inland city with no sea breezes and many picturesque valleys, is particularly susceptible to build-up of smoke particulate pollution.
This is one of the reasons the ACT government has campaigned in various ways over the past five years to encourage people to convert their domestic wood heaters to more environmentally-friendly heating. The government has also shown its commitment to this reduction in smoke pollution by offering rebates to people making this eco-friendly conversion. There are also moves to increase smoke-free areas inside buildings to avoid the known health risks associated with smoke.
Mrs Dunne cites smoke pollution and smoke drift as an inconvenience, an annoyance that might bother people putting washing on their line. This completely belittles Canberra residents’ right to clean air—something that the Greens continue to work on at a local as well as a national and global level. But it is not only the Greens who are concerned about this; organisations like the ACT branch of the AMA and the Australian Lung Foundation have campaigned for cleaner air in Canberra.
According to Dr James Markos, a respiratory physician and a chairman of the Australian Lung Foundation:
Particle pollution from all sources, and especially from wood smoke, is harmful to our lungs. Wood smoke contains fine particles which are breathed into the lungs. They irritate the bronchial tubes and affect those with pre-existing lung disease, especially asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
There are also increasing concerns about the long term effects of inhaling wood smoke which are relevant to all persons exposed to environmental wood smoke. The harmful effects of wood smoke appear similar to those of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). We know there is no safe level of exposure to this. Individuals can choose not to smoke and can usually avoid ETS. However, a resident of a valley filled with wood smoke cannot easily avoid breathing in the polluted air.
Wood smoke also arises in our communities from industrial wood-fired boilers, back-yard burn-offs, rural vegetation burn-offs, planned forestry burn-offs and unplanned forest fires.
Studies from many regions around the globe have identified short-term increases in death rates and hospital admissions related to increased concentrations of wood smoke in the air. According to a Canberra paediatrician, Dr Michael Rosier, asthma affects 25 per cent of children and smoke is one of the main allergens. Studies indicate that children with the highest exposure to wood smoke had a significant decrease in lung function, especially for children aged eight to 11. This is also a serious problem for older people, who are more likely to suffer from cardio and respiratory problems.
Canberra has a high rate of incidences of particle pollution exceeding the national environment protection measure, which is really something that should not be occurring
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