A new study suggests that living near a major highway could have a negative impact on your health.
The study, commissioned by city council in April 2012, examined air quality in Ward 5 and Ward 6 and its findings were presented at a public meeting Wednesday night.
Using computer modeling, the study mapped 30 substances that have the highest potential to impact local air quality.
Five of those substances were found in concentrations above acceptable levels, the report found. They are: Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter 10, Particulate Matter 2.5, Benzo(a)pyrene and Benzene.
The study also examined the sources of the substances and found that road vehicles appeared to be the biggest contributing factor.
“Road vehicles, particularly vehicles travelling near the intersection of the Gardiner Expressway/QEW and Highway 427, are the most significant source of the five pollutants that exceed air quality standards,” the city said in a handout distributed at the public meeting.
The possible health risks associated with the elevated pollution includes an elevated cancer risk, as well as an increased risk of respiratory illness.
“The results show there is a concern particularly around cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses,” said Stephanie Gower, a research consultant with Toronto Public Health.
The study found a cancer risk associated with the pollution of 44 in one million across the two wards. Toronto Public Health recommends taking action to limit exposure when the levels exceed one in one million.
However the city said the increased cancer risk is not very high.
“While 44 in a million is greater than the benchmark that TPH uses for individual cancer risk, the total risk is still quite small,” the city said in its handout.
However the study found that common air pollutants that make up some of the poor air increase the mortality rate for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases by 7.4 per cent.
While the study found that road vehicles were the biggest sources of the excess pollutants, industrial areas, commercial and residential spaces and other vehicles were also cited as contributing sources.
Gower said the news shows that while overall pollution levels in the city have gone down since 2004, there’s still more to be done to combat pollution.
“I think people should be concerned enough that we do need to do more work,” Gower said.
She said in particular when it comes to transportation, people should try and think about ways to get out of the car, be it using public transit, carpooling or cycling.
She cited a 2007 report that showed there are approximately 400 premature deaths and 1,700 hospitalizations per year in the city due to poor air quality.
The Etobicoke study is the second in a series of local air quality studies being conducted in neighbourhoods across the city. The first study in 2011 examined South Riverdale, Leslieville and the Beaches.
The city says it plans to assign community facilitators to work with residents and community groups to implement pollution prevention projects in the wards.
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