The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) is conducting a Community Air Sampling Program in partnership with a number of local communities. This program uses evacuated 6 litre stainless steel canisters to sample air. These canisters can be used any time a participant is concerned about air quality and is a useful method to capture short-term duration events.

The Community Air Sampling Program is part of a larger program that is built on previous and ongoing DEC monitoring in both metropolitan and regional areas. Voluntary participants in the Community Air Sampling Program are provided with all the equipment necessary to sample for key volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may occur over short periods of time. The equipment includes a cleaned and evacuated sampling canister, an operating manual and a sample log sheet. The six litre canisters are supplied with a high vacuum. Once the valve is opened, ambient air enters the canister to equalise pressure. When the gauge reaches zero, the canister is full and the valve can be closed.

Selection of participants in the program is based on a representative spread of locations agreed upon by DEC and interested members of the community.

The samples collected are sent to an accredited laboratory and tested for up to 40 different VOC compounds including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene. VOCs are compounds that readily evaporate and remain in the air as gases at normal ambient temperatures. The term includes a very large group of compounds that have carbon atoms as a primary component.

Analytical results for all community canister samples are available below. An analysis and reporting procedure has been developed for results taken by community members. The results are listed as ss-yyyymmdd-xxxx which represents the two letter region code, year, month and day the canister was taken and the canister serial number. These reports will be updated periodically as results are received. For further information, please email airquality@dec.wa.gov.au.