Almost all of Australia’s most polluting industries are located in low-income areas, according to new research by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The report looks at pollution from emitters including coal-fired power stations as well as mining, refineries and manufacturing and finds the country’s five most polluted areas are the Hunter Valley in NSW, the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Mount Isa in Queensland and Newman and Collie in WA.

The environment group used data from the national pollution inventory and matched it to bureau of statistics data on postcodes and income levels.

Coal-fired power stations are the largest pollution emitters in three of the areas while mining operations create the most emissions in the other two.

“Air pollution kills around 3,000 Australians every year and worsens conditions such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory diseases,” said Matthew Rose, the economics program manager for ACF.

It comes amid calls for new laws to limit the amount of toxic air pollution from coal-fired power stations in New South Wales after environment groups raised concerns they are allowed to emit higher levels of pollution than in the EU and China.

The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Cate Faehrmann, has introduced a bill that would bring regulations for the state’s five power stations into line with standards in the EU.

The NSW Greens proposal for new pollution limits would apply to coal-fired power stations.

It follows a submission from Environmental Justice Australia to a review of the environmental protection licences for the Eraring, Mount Piper and Vales Point power stations that drew attention to the “extraordinarily high pollution limits” for NSW stations.

The group warned pollution limits in NSW were “decades behind best practice” and while other countries had taken steps to lower pollution limits, Australian power stations had licence conditions that were still comparable to when the stations were first commissioned.

“In Australia, we have some of the worst regulation of pollution from coal-fired power stations in the world and it is killing people,” Faehrmann said.

“Toxic emissions of sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and mercury from Australia’s power stations are multiple times higher than what is allowed in the EU, the US and China and this is unacceptable.”

The Greens bill proposes amending the state’s clean air act to provide new standards of concentration for emissions of pollutants including sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen that power stations cannot exceed.

Faehrmann said this would help improve air quality and reduce the health impacts of pollution.

“There is a clear link between air pollution from power stations and health impacts, especially on children and the elderly,” she said.

Currently in NSW there are different levels of emissions set for individual stations depending on when they were built.

The stations are allowed to emit up to eight and a half times more sulphur dioxide and up to seven and half times more oxides of nitrogen than the EU and China.

In Sydney alone, more than 100 premature deaths a year are thought to be caused by pollution from coal-fired power stations.

The NSW Nature Conservation Council said existing pollution limits were set decades ago “when we didn’t understand the damage that this pollution causes”.

“Fortunately, technology has evolved to reduce pollution by up to 95%, we have no excuse for not updating the limits and fitting these controls on NSW’s power stations,” said the council’s climate and energy senior campaigner, Brad Smith.

“This bill brings NSW’s air pollution limits into the modern age and we urge all MPs to support it.”

Comment was sought from the NSW environment minister, Gabrielle Upton.

Labor has not indicated a position because it is unclear if the bill will be debated before the end of the final sitting week for NSW next week.