June 7, 2006, Pulse 24

Under a Cloud

If you’re like a lot of people, you’ve probably fled the dirty city for the relative calm of the suburbs, where the space is greater, the houses are slightly cheaper and the air is a lot cleaner. Or at least you believe it is.

“I think it's cleaner out here in the suburbs, 'cause I work right downtown, and some days, you can just almost feel it, it's so thick,” claims Pickering resident Chris Prontack.

A recent poll indicates most of us agree with her, accepting the idea escaping a life in the downtown core means we’re also escaping pollution.

But according to environmental experts, it’s a myth you can see right through.

Unless it’s a smoggy day.

“A lot of people are surprised to find that the air in the suburbs is as bad as the air downtown,” reveals Keith Stewart of the Toronto Environmental Alliance. “It's just a different mix of chemicals.”

“The popular misconception is that the brown haze you see over the C.N. Tower is where the air pollution is,” adds Eva Ligeti of the Clean Air Partnership. “It's not. It's uniform across the G.T.A.”

Which means when the city of Toronto is labouring under a smog alert, so are our neighbours to the east, west and north.

And that’s a major concern. The invisible particles are believed to contribute to almost 2,500 deaths across the G.T.A. every year, a total that's expected to rise to 4,300 over the next 20 years.

“We now have about 12 children out of every hundred in the G.T.A. who have asthma,” Ligeti advises. “We're seeing genetic changes in fetuses. We're seeing people losing two to three years off their lives because of air pollution.”

What can you do? There may not be much you can try to stop the pollution wafting in from the U.S. but there are some things you can do locally that may help at least partially clear the air.

Here’s a small list, courtesy of Environment Canada.

• Reduce car use. Walk, cycle, or take public transit to work. Vehicle emissions are a big factor in smog production.
• If you must drive to work, try to carpool. Make sure your car is well-maintained.
• Turn off your lights at home whenever you don't need them. Generating electricity contributes to smog.
• Set your air conditioner temperature a few degrees higher. It'll use less energy.
• Limit use of small-engine tools, like lawnmowers, chain saws and leaf blowers - they run on gasoline and cause pollution.
• Avoid using aerosol sprays and cleaners, oil-based paints and other chemical products. An air-friendly alternative to freshen the air in your home is to leave a cup filled with vinegar on your kitchen counter.
• Try not to smoke - lighting up only adds to the pollutants in the air.