With the exception of underground mines and infrastructure construction, emissions from
non-road diesel engines (covering vehicles and equipment) in Australia are unregulated,
despite being the fourth largest human-made source of fine particle pollution in the NSW
Greater Metropolitan Region.
Monitoring and controlling emissions, especially on construction sites, would help improve
worker health and safety as well as improving the construction industry’s environmental
footprint at site level. This would also contribute to enhanced regional air quality.
Issues connected with outdoor air quality
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasises that air pollution continues to be a major
environmental risk to human health, especially in urban areas. Elevated levels of some
common air pollutants bring an increase in acute respiratory infections and cardiovascular
disease in humans and contribute to premature deaths and raised cancer risks.
Evidence of the toxicity and cancer risks related to diesel exhaust emissions comes from the
International Agency for Research on Cancer, which classified diesel engine exhaust
as carcinogenic to humans in 2012. The World Health Assembly estimated in 2015 that
some 3.7 million deaths a year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution. Almost 90 per
cent of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, with almost two out of three
occurring in WHO’s South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. About 94 per cent of the
deaths are due to non-communicable diseases, notably cardiovascular problems, stroke,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
While urban air quality in Australia is generally good, Australia’s National Environment
Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (AAA NEPM) goals for fine particles and ozone
are exceeded in some Australian cities and regions. Levels of CO, NO 2 , SO 2 and lead in
urban air are generally below the national standards, and decreased or remained steady in
the period from 1999 to 2008.
The impact of non-road diesel engines
In NSW non-road diesel engines produced almost exactly the same annual tonnage of
particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres as on-road vehicles. This is a significant
figure given the overwhelmingly large number of on-road vehicles compared to total NSW
vehicles.
