Air Quality: An Environmental Health Issue in Western Australia

Running head: AIR QUALITY
Air quality: An environmental health issue in Western Australia
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Part 1..........................................................................................................................................2
The DPSEEA framework in air quality.................................................................................2
Social and political limitation of the DPSEEA framework...................................................4
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................5
Regulations and policies to regulate air quality.....................................................................5
Gaps in current regulations....................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The decreasing quality of air is increasing each day irrespective of the economic and social
strata of the geographical area. The particulate air pollutants can overcome the defense
system of the body and penetrate deep into the respiratory system and subsequently into the
human circulatory system, affecting the lungs, brain and the heart (Patel et al., 2019).
Contaminants of air released by industries, housing, motor vehicles and commercial sources
influence human health adversely and evidence suggests that in many cities, air pollution is a
considerable burden of diseases and mortalities (Kelly & Fussell, 2015). Epidemiological
evidence of Western Australia depicts that numerous health effects are directly associated
with air quality and pollution. This paper discusses the environmental health issue of air
quality in the geographical region of Western Australia, describes the DPSEEA framework to
outline the causes and impacts of air quality in Western Australia, some social and political
factors influencing it, existing federal and state policies regulating air quality and future
directions that can overcome the present barriers.
Part 1
The DPSEEA framework in air quality
The DPSEEA framework provides an interconnection between the issues of environment,
health and development. It is primarily useful to describe the impacts of pollution, which
include air pollution as well as others. The framework outlines indicators at several levels to
be used at the local, national and global levels for specific plans and policies by various
nations. The driving forces-pressures-state-exposures-health effects-actions (DPSEEA)
framework describes how the diverse driving forces create pressures affecting the

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environmental state and finally, the health of humans via different pathways of exposure so
that the individuals can come touch with the environment (Who.int, 2020).
The DPSEEA framework
The fundamental driving forces that influence the air quality both indoor and outdoor in
Western Australia include home heating, fuel consumption, and distance traveled by vehicles.
The quality of air is influenced by a variety of driving forces. The demand for the annual
consumption of energy is increasing as is regarded as a significant driving force resulting in
pressures on the environment. With a higher consumption of energy, the production of energy
is also increasing, increasing the content of air pollutants in the atmosphere. Some of the
other significant driving forces in most of the regions of Western Australia are the
combustion of coal and wood in burners and open fires and other contributors to air pollution
such as the distance (in kilometers) traveled by automobiles (Tsou et al., 2018).
The significant potential health risk is by the emissions and exhausts of pollutants such as
SO2 automobiles, agriculture and construction sites. Another significant form of pressure on