What you can’t see can hurt you
In Hamilton, we have the misfortune of having some of the highest ambient air concentrations of PM2.5 in Ontario.
THERE IS A LOT OF TRUTH in the phrase ‘What you can’t see can hurt you’ when it comes to PM2.5 pollution.
PM2.5 or respirable particulate matter refers to air pollution particles that are invisible to the human eye because they are smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter or 100 times thinner than a strand of human hair! PM2.5 particles are tiny enough that they make their way deep down into our lungs and we have difficulty getting them back out. According to Cancer Care Ontario, PM2.5 is a confirmed cause of lung cancer in humans. Public Health Ontario reports that there are an estimated 290 new cancer cases per year as a result of PM2.5 exposure and that PM2.5 also contributes to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
In Hamilton, we have the misfortune of having some of the highest ambient air concentrations of PM2.5 in Ontario. This reality is confirmed by air monitoring data collected at the province’s Downtown Hamilton monitoring station located in Beasley Park — far from any major highway or the industrial core so you know there are other locations in the city where ambient PM2.5 levels are even higher. Our air quality has improved over the years but we are still not where we need to be where PM2.5 air pollution is concerned.
You might wonder where PM2.5 pollution comes from. According to Clean Air Hamilton (2017), vehicle emissions are the main source of PM2.5 in urban Hamilton. Other local sources of fine particulate include fugitive emissions — particulate that escapes enclosed industrial processes in ways other than from industrial stacks or that is generated from outdoor industry-related activities or construction — from industry and resuspended dust from roadways. Add to this the ‘transboundary’ pollution that travels up into Southern Ontario from the Ohio Valley and the result is a ‘triple whammy’ effect on local air quality, especially if you live in a neighbourhood closer to the industrial core.
Given the contribution that vehicles make to PM2.5 levels, more Hamiltonians need to make sustainable mobility choices to help spare the air! Active forms of transportation like walking and biking are fantastic alternatives to getting into a car — not only to improve air quality, but also because of the resulting physical and mental health benefits. Public transit is a great option too — getting more people on the bus, especially if that bus is hybrid or electric, can make a huge difference.
But right now urban Hamilton is going through transformative change that is pitting emerging, more sustainable transportation options against the dominant modes for moving people and goods. Consider the city’s antiquated network of truck routes. Can you name another major Ontario urban centre that allows 18-wheeled industrial trucks to roll right past city hall, major downtown districts that the city claims it wants people to live, work and play in, past residential areas with schools, and even right by a major regional hospital?
In Hamilton, industrial trucks short cut through the core to get to and from Highway 403, despite ample capacity on Burlington Street that could take them right to the QEW or to Highway 403 via the Red Hill/Linc Expressway. Add to this mix the heavy flows of vehicular traffic along one-way urban arterial roads like Main, King and Cannon Streets and you have a recipe for high PM2.5 levels These vehicles emit particulate pollution right where lots of people are; whether you’re strolling down James Street, walking to Dr. Davey School on Wilson Street, or commuting along the Cannon Cycle track like I do every weekday, you’re being exposed to PM2.5!
We also need to be concerned about very localized sources of PM2.5 — like the fine silica dust generated when concrete-cutting is done without a simple water spray control, or mud dragged out onto streets out from poorly managed construction sites or industrial yards that then becomes resuspended as fine particulate when other vehicles drive through it. Many people think these sources are nothing to worry about, but problems like these bring harmful particulate pollution right into urban areas where many more people are exposed — especially the workers at these sites.
So where do we need to go from here? At the local level, investment in more and better public transit and active transportation infrastructure needs to be a top priority in our city! These systems need to be attractive enough from a safety, affordability, and reliability point of view to encourage people to want to use them. And the city needs to revisit and refine its system of urban truck routes. There is no reason why industrial trucks — that certainly aren’t making deliveries downtown — should be cutting through the core. We all need to pushing for the provincial Ministry of Environment & Climate Change to regulate PM2.5 pollution; right now Ontario does not have legally binding ambient air or industrial emission limits for PM2.5, despite our growing understanding of the harmful nature of fine particulate pollution!
Can you name another major Ontario urban centre that allows 18-wheeled industrial trucks to roll right past city hall, major downtown districts that the city claims it wants people to live, work and play in?