Elevated levels of cancer-causing chemicals found in Hamilton

A University of Toronto (U of T) professor says Hamilton residents could be inhaling the chemical equivalent of one or two cigarettes per week — at a minimum — due to elevated levels of a cancer-causing compound in the air.

Matthew Adams, an air contaminants researcher working on behalf of the City of Hamilton and the non-profit Environment Hamilton, says air quality monitors installed on street poles across the city found concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene, or BaP, higher than provincial criteria.

In urban neighbourhoods farther away from the industrial area, residents may be exposed to the equivalent of half a cigarette or one cigarette every few days, Adams said in an interview.

“But at the highest concentrations, exposure to the air you’re breathing would expose you to about the same amount of benzo(a)pyrene that’s in a cigarette,” he said.

Adams says the city has known about its BaP problem for some time, but the carcinogen’s ubiquity across the entire city is surprising.

Long-term exposure to the chemical, created by burning tobacco, wood or coal, and by operating gas-powered vehicles, can increase cancer risk.

RELATED: Sewage has been leaking into Hamilton Harbour since 1996: City of Hamilton

Hamilton’s steelmakers have been known BaP emitters for years, but Adams says reduced steel production and improved standards for pollution capture since the 1980s have been offset by increased industrial traffic throughout the city.

A spokesperson with the City of Hamilton tells CityNews that benzo(a)pyrene is an expected component of outdoor air, especially in all urban areas in Ontario and globally, adding that Hamilton Public Health has yet to be provided with the study’s findings and hasn’t had an opportunity to review.

The steel mills in the Hamilton waterfront harbour are shown in Hamilton, Ont., on October 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette.

“When it comes to higher rates of pollutants such as benzo(a)pyrene in our air, it’s important to keep in mind that the province, through the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, has set and approved site-specific standards for Hamilton industries, considered special permissions to emit contaminants above provincially regulated air quality standards,” said Matthew Lawson, Hamilton Public Health Services Manager of Health Hazards and Vector-Borne Diseases.

“The province decides these based on technological and economic considerations for the specific industry in further reducing emissions. The air quality standards are based on health risks, and exceeding these standards can present an increased risk to the health of communities.”

Lawson said that the city is currently working with Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks staff to discuss the process the province uses to set “site-specific standards for air quality emissions across Ontario and how the existing site-specific standards for air quality emissions are set within our community.”

“Ultimately, the City of Hamilton is requesting the province protect the health of all Hamilton residents and work with local industry to reduce emissions further.”

With files from Lucas Casaletto of CityNews