Downtown air quality is slipping
While traditional industrial pollution remains a problem, experts are also emphasizing the need to get gas-burning vehicles off the road
Hamilton’s downtown — already one of the most polluted in Ontario — is seeing a “concerning” uptick in lung-busting traffic pollutants that dipped during the first year of the pandemic.
Experts in air quality say the increase underscores the importance of pushing ahead on projects that will cut gas-powered traffic through the core — like light rail transit, a greener fleet and redirected truck traffic.
Levels of pollutants in Hamilton like benzene, nitrogen dioxide and different types of inhalable dust all bounced up slightly in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to the latest Clean Air Hamilton annual report.
“That’s a concern for us,” said group chair and McMaster University professor Bruce Newbold, who noted the largely downward trend for most major pollutants over two decades. “We’re asking, ‘What’s happening here?’ Because we’re not seeing the same (improvement) now.”
Newbold said part of the explanation for the uptick may be more traffic on the road compared to 2020, when the city saw a brief pandemic lockdown and changes in traffic patterns that only started returning to normal last year. The group does not yet have a report with 2022 numbers available.
But Newbold said in an interview that particulate pollution — think everything from road dust to shredded metal to rubber tire particles — is an ongoing concern. Similarly, a research project involving the city and University of Toronto found higher levels of nitrogen dioxide in the core during testing in 2022.
Both particulate pollution and nitrogen dioxide, which is created by burning fuel, are respiratory health risks and linked to road traffic. Exposure to benzene, created by burning coal but also found in vehicle exhaust, is a known cancer risk.
Those pollutants are a concern for all Hamiltonians, but the latest report shows the highest levels are often found in the downtown or at monitoring stations along the industrial bayfront. Levels of the tiniest lung-busting dust particles, for example, are highest downtown — and historically the worst among 10 comparable Ontario cities.
A ward-level satellite study of nitrogen dioxide levels during pandemic lockdown also showed some of the biggest changes in Hamilton’s downtown. That correlation between fewer cars on the road and air quality is important, argued University of Toronto scientist and study author Matthew Adams.
“If Hamilton sees a continued move toward electric vehicles … if LRT happens, and we continue improving public transit, then it is likely we will see improvements in air quality,” he said.
It could be five years before you step foot on an LRT car, of course. But quicker changes — like the new ban on heavy truck traffic through the core — could also have a measurable impact, Newbold added.
Downtown councillor Cameron Kroetsch said he appreciated seeing the “strong link” between vehicle traffic and air quality, especially for certain neighbourhoods. “There are certainly pockets … where there are impacts of air quality that are literally taking decades of people’s lives away,” he said.
Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson said the city needs to do a better job using air pollution data to explain the need to spend on improved transit, pedestrian and cycling safety. “These things are not nice-tohaves, these things are speaking to the life and the lifespan of residents.”
Levels of the tiniest lung-busting dust particles, for example, are highest downtown — and historically the worst among 10 comparable Ontario cities