A Case Study of UV Exposure Risk in Sydney during the 2019/2020 New South Wales Bushfires
Article
Article Title | A Case Study of UV Exposure Risk in Sydney during the 2019/2020 New South Wales Bushfires |
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ERA Journal ID | 15283 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Igoe, Damien P. (Author), Parisi, Alfio V. (Author), Downs, Nathan J. (Author) and Butler, Harry (Author) |
Journal Title | Photochemistry and Photobiology |
Journal Citation | 98 (5), pp. 1236-1244 |
Number of Pages | 9 |
Year | 2022 |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Place of Publication | United States |
ISSN | 0031-8655 |
1751-1097 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13603 |
Web Address (URL) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/php.13603 |
Abstract | During summer of 2019/2020, Sydney, Australia, experienced several days of extreme air pollution and low visibility due to bushfires. This research presents a case study that investigates the erythemal UV irradiance and resulting 1 h erythemal and 8 h actinic exposures during the worst of these days. Air quality, meteorological and UV data used in the analysis were readily available online or by request from governmental agencies. Analysis showed that even for the lowest visibility day (which had a minimum visibility of less than a kilometer) on 10 December 2019, there was a cumulative 1 h erythemal UV exposure of over 4 SED (standard erythema dose) and a cumulative 8 h exposure of 17 SED by the late afternoon. The 1 h exposure exceeded that of a minimum erythemal dose. Even on this extremely hazy day, these cumulative exposures are enough to exceed the recommended daily exposure limit for actinic exposures weighted with the health sensitivity spectrum for the skin and eyes set by the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. |
Keywords | Solar UV radiation, air quality, particulate haze, cumulative UV exposure, UVI, erythema UV, particulate scattering |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 519999. Other physical sciences not elsewhere classified |
Byline Affiliations | School of Sciences |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q721x/a-case-study-of-uv-exposure-risk-in-sydney-during-the-2019-2020-new-south-wales-bushfires
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