Monitoring the environment

Benzene levels in Victorian air 2003–07


Benzene is a component of petrol.

The chart on this page shows the concentration of benzene in our air measured by EPA between 2003 and 2007. The red line is the health-based monitoring investigation level. The results indicate that all benzene levels have remained below this level.

Fuel regulations introduced in January 2006 reduced the amount of benzene in petrol. This partially explains the drop in benzene concentrations we measured at roadsides in the later sampling studies.

Annual average benzene concentrations in Victoria

Benzene

ppb: parts per billion (for every one billion litres of air there is one litre of the pollutant)

Note: Some projects ran for less than twelve months. More information on individual projects is available on this website.

Sample date Location Average benzene concentration (ppb)
2003 Alphington 0.6
2003 Footscray 0.4
2003–04 Nunawading (Springvale Road) 1.7
2004 Brooklyn (Westgate Freeway) 1.3
2004–05 Corio 0.5
2005–06 Eltham 0.5
2006 Newport 1.0
2006 Spotswood 0.8
2006–07 Carlton 0.7
2006–07 South Melbourne 0.5
2007 Traralgon 0.2
National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) investigation level (annual average) 3.0


ppb
: parts per billion (for every one billion litres of air there is one litre of the pollutant)

Page last updated on 17 Sep 2014