Ports Toronto continues to oppose Air Quality Study conclusions that airport is main source of ultrafine particle air pollution in the community.
Feb 7, 2025
Three years ago, University of Toronto researchers monitored in real time, the amount of air pollution in the Bathurst Quay community and found that the airport is the major source of ultrafine particles (UFPs) in the nearby community. This in effect makes the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood as polluted with UFPs as high congestion areas of downtown Toronto. At a recent YQNA webinar Dr Greg Evans of the University of Toronto, stated that without the airport, the BQN would have cleaner air than downtown Toronto.
UFPs, a result of combustion, can increase the risk of strokes, coronary heart disease, and cause premature deaths. Airports are a well-known source of UFPs and the conclusion of this 3-year study has been published in peer reviewed journals and presented at international conferences.
A public meeting held a year ago listed many ways that Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport could reduce UFPs into the air and many of these suggestions are listed in the U of T report.
Ports Toronto, however, continues to disagree with the study’s conclusion in their 2023 ESG Report, claiming that the airport does not contribute to UFP pollution and that the air in the surrounding community is substantially cleaner.
Representatives of the BQNA challenged the information in the 2023 ESG report and at a subsequent Community Liaison Committee meeting, we asked them to issue a retraction -- or to at least to transparently substantiate their claims.
However, in the revised Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport ESG Report 2023, Ports Toronto does not retract their statement nor do they reference the results of the U of T peer reviewed study. Instead Ports Toronto justifies their statements in a footnote referencing their paid consultant.
In the meantime, city councilors and the media would have no awareness of the U of T study outcomes if all they do is read Ports Toronto’s reports. It would be far better for city councilors to hear what Dr Marianne Hatzopoulou, Head of the Transportation and Air Quality research group, says about the airports’ impact on air quality in our community in this 15-minute recap of the study’s key findings.
That is why we are calling on the city of Toronto to publish the U of T study on their website and take these results seriously into all future planning of our waterfront. We also want Toronto Public Health to acknowledge the amount of UFPs being emitted into our air and make public the data on chronic diseases and mortality in our community.
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