Air pollution monitoring
Student Assessment Guide (SAG)
This subject is assessed directly from the following unit;
Unit Code
MSS025009A
Unit Title
Perform sampling & testing of air
Successful completion of MSS025009A requires the following pre-requisite unit;
Nil
Nil
Air pollution monitoring
SAG
Subject purpose
This unit of competency covers the ability to collect and test gaseous and particulate
components in ambient, indoor and occupational air. Personnel will normally work within an
existing sampling or monitoring plan. They will continually monitor levels of risk, apply
specified safe working procedures and use prescribed safety equipment.
This unit of competency is applicable to environmental technicians in a range of industry
sectors, such as:

environmental services involved with sampling and monitoring of ambient air,
indoor air and workplace air parameters

occupational hygiene

environmental compliance, auditing and inspection
Assessment
Assessment for this subject will consist of a combination of both theory based study
modules and practical assessment based on current chemical and particulate analysis of air
pollutants including;

Legislation, regulation, standards, codes of practice and enterprise procedures

Chemical analysis of air

Particulate analysis of air

Meteorological assessments

Simple data analysis
There is substantial assignment and practical work required for this unit.
Assessment Task
Weighting
Study modules
25%
Practical chemical analysis (2)
15%
Practical particulate analysis (2)
15%
Field analysis of gases (1)
15%
Meteorological data assessment
15%
Analytical results, report & spreadsheet
15%
TOTAL
100%
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Subject content
This subject deals with a wide variety of topics including the following aspects;
•
Standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements
•
Theory of atmospheric science, air measurement and air pollution
•
The structure, circulation and composition of the atmosphere
•
Atmospheric stability, lapse rates and inversions
•
Localised meteorology and dispersion of air pollutants
•
Chemistry of air pollutants, such as:
o particulates (inorganics, organics and metals)
o inorganic gases (CO, CO2, NOx, SOx, ammonia, acid rain, halogens and ozone)
o organic gases (hydrocarbons; oxygen, halogens, sulfur and nitrogen
containing organics)
o photochemical smog, greenhouse gases and ozone depletion
•
Principles of air quality sampling and analysis, methods and standards
•
Function of key components and operating principles of common air quality
instruments
•
Field sampling and monitoring procedures, including labelling and traceability
•
Relevant health, safety and environment requirements, including field safety
principles
•
Planning and preparing for field activities
•
Collecting representative samples in accordance with a sampling plan and
method
•
Using appropriate techniques to preserve the integrity of samples
•
Demonstrating correct and safe use of field/laboratory instruments and/or
equipment, including calibration
•
Using air quality measurement instrumentation to obtain verifiable, quantitative
results
•
Identifying, faults, atypical data and samples and taking appropriate action
•
Completing accurate records of sampling, test data and results
•
Communicating effectively and writing/compiling concise and accurate reports
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Grading
The assessment for this unit is recorded as a Class Mark. All assessment events used to
determine your result will be locally set and locally marked.
Your results will be reported as DISTINCTION, CREDIT, PASS (AC) or FAIL (NYC). To receive a
particular grade you must get at least the mark shown below:
Grade
Class mark
DISTINCTION
>=83
CREDIT
>=70
PASS (ACHIEVED COMPETENCY)
>=50
FAIL (NOT YET COMPETENT)
<50
Delivery strategy
This subject is assessed directly against the unit’s performance criteria.
Unit
MSS025009A
Elements
Performance
Criteria
Subject
Weighting
Unit
Weighting
All
All
100
100
NOTE: The subject weighting MUST add up to 100 for the subject, but the Unit Weighting MAY NOT add up to
100 as each unit is weighted differently in each subject it is used in. Refer to cffet.net/env/assessment for
further explanation.
What you will need
To complete this subject successfully you will need;
•
The course notes
•
A USB flash or thumb drive.
•
Access to a computer with internet, email and general office programs
•
Administrator rights to download and install free software
•
General computer skills
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Where to get help
Contact your teacher [www.cffet.net/env/contacts] if you run into any trouble this unit. You
would be surprised how flexible we are at accommodating your needs, but communication
is key. If you don’t let us know you are having trouble, we may have trouble trying to help
you.
Resources and references
References
Note that you are not required to purchase, download or read these references (unless
specifically directed to by your teacher). Some of these resources might be available from
your teacher or library for free.
Australian-Standards. (Various dates). AS/NZS 3580 Methods for sampling and analysis of
ambient air (entire series). Canberra: Standards Australia.
Bates, G. (2010). Environmental Law in Australia. Australia: LexisNexis-Butterworths.
Baukal Jr, C. (2004). Industrial Combustion Pollution and Control. New York, USA: Marcel
Dekker.
Burden, F. E. (2002). Environmental Monitoring Handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional.
Colls, J. (2002). Air Pollution. England: Talyor & Francis.
Manahan, S. (2000). Environmental Chemistry. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers.
Manly, B. (2009). Statistics for environmental science and management. Boca Raton: Taylor
& Francis Group.
Schuenemeyer, J. E. (2011). Statistics for Earth and Environmental Scientists. New Jersey:
John Wiley & Sons.
Seinfeld, J. P. (2006). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate
Change, 2nd Ed. Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Vallero, D. (2008). Fundamentals of Air Pollution, 4th Ed. Burlington, USA: Academic Press.
vanLoon, G. W. (2011). Environmental Chemistry: a global perspective. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011. (n.d.).
Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2011. (n.d.).
Resources
•
Nil at this stage.
Assessment Submission
Students are to submit all assessments by the due date to the subject teacher by email using
the following filename format;
firstname-surname-assessmentname-duedate
Visit cffet.net/env/assessment for more information on submitting assessments, file names
and available file extensions that you can use.
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