Associate Professor Fay Johnston says national air quality needs to be monitored as bushfires become a major source of air pollution.
Professor Johnston leads a team of researchers deployed in response to persistent smoke from a bushfire that has been burning for nearly two months in Port Macquarie on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.
Smoke particles from bushfires can cause health problems such as itchy or burning eyes, throat irritation, a runny nose and illnesses such as bronchitis.
It can also aggravate existing lung conditions such as emphysema.