Toronto public health urges TTC to improve subway air quality, while maintaining it’s safe

The TTC is being urged to take action to improve air quality on the subway system, but the city’s Medical Officer of Health maintains that riding the red rocket is not only good for the health of individuals, but for the city as a whole.

A Toronto Public Health report released on Monday found that levels of fine particulate matter air pollution, known as PM2.5, are high enough, particularly on Line 2, to warrant mitigation.

The fine particulate matter can include aerosols, smoke, fumes, dust, ash, pollen and metals.

“There are some air quality issues that absolutely the TTC can and should address in order to keep the subway the healthiest available option,” Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, told CityNews on Monday.

“The recommendation is to continue to take the subway, because it in fact has several health benefits,” she stressed.

De Villa says those benefits include reducing car pollution, promoting physical activity, and providing access to jobs, schools, and other community services.

“I ride the subway on a regular basis, my children ride the subway on a regular basis, my suggestion to people is to continue to ride the subway. It is a very health-promoting method of travel,” she added.

The study notes that there are “currently no health-based standards or guidelines for assessing passenger risk from subway PM2.5,” but it has been linked to health issues, especially in vulnerable people.

“People who are especially sensitive to PM2.5 include those with heart or lung conditions such as coronary artery disease, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, older adults, and children,” the study states.

“PM2.5 is a non-threshold contaminant, which means that there is some potential for health impact at all levels of exposure, and any reductions in exposure offer health benefits.”

De Villa advised people with specific health issues that could be exacerbated to discuss the matter with their doctors.

She added that she couldn’t comment on the potential risks for TTC employees as occupational health exposure is “not part of the public health mandate.”

But the TTC noted that the testing, the first of its kind in over two decades, showed that air quality has improved on the underground system.

“Subway air quality testing shows we are well below provincially mandated occupational regulations,” the TTC said in a statement. “For the small group of employees requiring protective equipment, it is supplied with proper training. Testing shows concentrations of certain particulates in the subway air to be up to 10,000 times lower in 2018 than they were when previously tested in 1995.”

Mayor Tory took that as a positive, but said there’s still work to be done.

“It does meet the standard and it is going to be the subject of continuing work to make sure we are a world leader, which we have been, on air quality in the subway, both for the riders and for the workers.”

The #TTC ‘s statement in response to the @TOPublicHealth report on subway air quality. pic.twitter.com/y1f1tS5Ngi

— TTCStuart (@TTCStuart) January 6, 2020

The report, which will be presented at the Board of Health meeting next week, recommends that the TTC reviews its operational and ventilation systems, and monitors PM2.5 levels while considering ways to improve air quality, among other initiatives.

In the meantime, de Villa advises Torontonians to ride the subway without reservations, despite the daily grind of metal on metal that’s releasing potentially harmful particulates into the air.

“There are no specific measures that the general populace needs to take,” she emphasized.

“What the report shows is public transit is a healthy mode of transportation (but) there is an opportunity for the TTC to make it healthier.”