Latest news with #JeffreyBrook
Hamilton Spectator
21-07-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Why Toronto residents still aren't safe from wildfire smoke indoors
Environment Canada issued an air quality warning for Toronto and much of the GTA, as thick smoke from wildfires in northern Ontario blanketed the city — pushing the Air Quality Health Index to 10+, or 'very high risk,' early Monday morning. By the late afternoon, the warning was downgraded to a special statement, with an index of eight, or 'high risk.' Smoke from wildfires in Ontario and Manitoba is still causing poor air quality and reduced visibility, according to the updated statement, with conditions Torontonians are being urged to reduce strenuous outdoor activities and to stay inside when possible. But there's no escaping the smoke, even when indoors, experts tell the Star. Most buildings are only able to keep about half — 40 to 60 per cent — of outdoor air pollutants from coming inside, according to the research of Jeffrey Brook, an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. As climate change advances, I cannot grasp the hugeness of the calamity. What once was notable is becoming a habit, a toxic, sinister pattern. As climate change advances, I cannot grasp the hugeness of the calamity. What once was notable is becoming a habit, a toxic, sinister pattern. That means, on especially smoky days, indoor air quality can still reach dangerous levels for susceptible individuals, Brook and other experts previously told the Star. These can include young children, pregnant people, elderly individuals and those with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions like asthma. 'There's a lot of epidemiology research that says (pollutants released by wildfires) is a major killer,' Brook explained. 'It's one of the most significant causes of premature mortality in the world.' And yet, our building codes and ventilation systems generally aren't designed to prioritize smoke and other pollutants, experts say. As the climate crisis makes wildfires a more common occurrence, policymakers are being urged to consider long-term solutions to a worsening issue. There are three main ways smoke (and other air pollutants) can infiltrate our homes, according to Amy Li, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo. The first is through any large openings, like a door left ajar or an opened window. 'This is why we often have the recommendation to close all windows and doors when we know the outdoor air is not good,' she explained. The second pathway is less visible — leaks and cracks in a home's enclosure through which pollutants can enter. 'Buildings are not like a spaceship,' Li said. 'There will always be some amount (of pollutants) getting into the building.' Health experts are not currently concerned about air quality in Toronto but warn prolonged exposure to moderate risk air may threaten health. Health experts are not currently concerned about air quality in Toronto but warn prolonged exposure to moderate risk air may threaten health. The third is through mechanical ventilation systems that funnel outside air indoors, said Jeffrey Siegel, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto. This sort of system is present in 'most non-residential buildings,' he said. It's why large commercial and institutional buildings, like schools, offices and community centres, are often more vulnerable to smoke, Li added, although it varies from building to building. Older buildings also tend to have more cracks for pollutants to seep through and ventilation systems less able to keep smoke out, Li and Siegel explained. Meanwhile, single family homes and townhouses tend to be 'leakier' compared to highrise apartment complexes, Li said. Buildings without air conditioning are also at greater risk if windows are kept open to regulate high temperatures, Siegel added. The first rule of thumb is to close any doors and windows when it's smoky out. You might even consider taping windows shut if leaks are present, Li said. 'That's not as protective as would be ideal because of the leaks in buildings … but it will help,' Siegel added. But this may not be an option if your residence has no air conditioning and you're weathering a period of extreme heat: 'The health effects of extreme heat can be more serious than the effects of wildfire smoke,' Siegel said. If your home has a central forced air system with a MERV 11-rated air filter or better, Siegel recommends keeping your fan going continuously if possible. MERV, or 'minimum efficiency reporting values,' measures how efficiently a filter can capture particles; a MERV 13 to 15 rated filter is preferred, Siegel said. Unlike many commercial buildings, most residences in Canada recirculate the indoor air instead of pumping in fresh air from the outside, Li said. Siegel also recommended running portable air filters in crowded spaces, especially in areas with susceptible individuals. The Star previously outlined how to make an affordable filter using a fan, air filters, duct tape and cardboard. If possible, Li recommends upgrading your home's filtration system. Consult with a professional first, especially if your home's ventilation system is old, as a high-efficiency filter might overwhelm the system and lead to drops in pressure, she said. Finally, those at high risk can consider wearing a well-fitted respirator or mask, like an N95 mask, while indoors when it's especially smoky, Siegel explained. TORONTO - The Canadian Ophthalmological Society is urging people to take care of their eyes as wildfires burn across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. TORONTO - The Canadian Ophthalmological Society is urging people to take care of their eyes as wildfires burn across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Until recently, building filtration systems have placed less emphasis on keeping wildfire smoke and other environmental pollutants out, Brook noted. And while the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward improving HVAC systems in buildings like schools, experts and advocates have noted it's not sufficient to keep up with the increasing prevalence of wildfires. Almost any upgrades to a building will also make it more resistant to wildfire smoke, Siegel said, from installing new windows to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning retrofits. The problem is many of the buildings where these improvements are needed most, like schools, are unable to implement them due to budget and funding limitations, he continued. 'It's an important area that we should be thinking about for investment, because the issue isn't just wildfire smoke,' Siegel said. 'We have increasing ambient air pollution just because of urbanization. We have a lot more construction, a lot more traffic, a lot of major roadways with schools and other buildings near them.' There's another hurdle. Brook noted that improved ventilation, air-conditioning and filtration systems may end up contributing to the climate crisis. For urbanites, there's a new way to mark the calendar: the day the smoke reaches the city. For urbanites, there's a new way to mark the calendar: the day the smoke reaches the city. 'If you just start expending more energy to make the indoor air clean, it can becomes a vicious cycle of more emissions if our energy is coming from dirty sources,' he said. 'We have to think, what's our long-term strategy?' Brook continued. 'Why have we stopped talking about how we're going to meet carbon emission targets? How are we going to upgrade our housing and clean air while not increasing our energy usages?'
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Chris Selley: Let your kids outside, for God's sake, even if it's a bit smoky
Environment Canada offers some reasonable-sounding advice for living with poor air quality caused by smoke from wildfires, which is currently afflicting several parts of Canada — and causing hysteria in one part of Canada, or at least in its media, or at least in one particular newspaper. Environment Canada identifies the people at particular risk as seniors, infants, folks who work up a sweat outdoors, and those with lung or heart conditions. It advises such people to assess their own sensitivities to poor air quality, in consultation with their physicians if they feel it necessary, and act accordingly. That wasn't nearly dramatic enough for the Toronto Star, which has a remarkably sensationalist tabloid sensibility when it comes to public-health matters. At one point on Monday, the top of the Star's homepage featured four separate stories about the terrible danger the air quality posed to your heart, lungs and offspring. One of the articles posed a familiar question to experts: Should children be wearing N95 masks? 'The answer is 'not really,' according to Dr. Jeffrey Brook, an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health,' the Star reported. 'The level that we're seeing here (is) what children are dealing with day in and day out in other countries in the world,' the Star quoted Brook. He added: 'It makes sense to be prudent, but not to panic.' (One might also recall how recently kids grew up in houses yellowed by second-hand smoke, not to mention eating in restaurants and flying in planes and driving in cars full of it. They didn't all die before 40.) Experts disagree on the mask question, as they do on most things, which is why 'experts say' is such a lousy way to frame a news article. 'On smoky days,' the University of Alberta reported on its website, its professor of medicine Dr. Anne Hicks 'recommends … using respiratory protection like masks when there is no option to avoid the smoke.' Quoting Jamie Happy with Alberta Lung, Global News reported that 'as soon as the AQHI (Air Quality Health Index) hits five or higher (out of 10), people should consider limiting their time outdoors or wearing a N95 mask.' (The AQHI hit eight in Toronto on Monday.) The Star, meanwhile, quoted Toronto family physician Dr. Jennifer Green to the effect that kids shouldn't wear N95 masks, because 'in children, N95 masks often don't fit properly, often aren't worn properly and really are not a solution.' Doesn't that just take you back five-and-a-half years or so? To when recent Order of Canada recipient Dr. Theresa Tam told us masks were worse than useless against viruses because we hadn't gone on the two-day ministry-approved donning-and-doffing course, as if we were purebred morons? It sure took me back. This sort of messaging only undermines the larger cause of public health. And speaking of which: 'I think for a child with underlying asthma, who must be outside, I would recommend wearing an N95 mask,' Green told the Star, somewhat paradoxically. 'But really, as much as possible, we should be keeping all children inside.' We should be keeping all children inside as much as possible. In July. Even if they're not especially vulnerable to smoke. After screwing up their lives for three years during COVID-19. No. No, we should not be doing that. Obviously. Whether you think school closures were justified or not during the pandemic, at all or to the truly extraordinary extent Ontario took it, at this point we should be exploring every avenue to remedy the damage. And that does not mean trapping kids inside because the air quality's a bit crap. That pandemic-era damage is huge. Of course it is. One of the most bizarre rhetorical phenomena of the pandemic was people arguing it wouldn't really do kids all that much harm not to go to school for a year or two. If that were true, why on earth do we spend so much money on K-12 education in the first place? The anecdotes from teachers and child-care workers about socially maladjusted and academically delayed kids keep piling up. So does the academic research: 'The pandemic has left its mark on their behaviour, mental health, social skills and their education,' BBC reported last month. 'Childhood experiences … tend to have an outsized effect on life trajectories because they can alter brain development, behaviour and overall wellbeing.' Standardized test scores have crashed in Britain, where schools were closed for considerably shorter periods of time than in Ontario and Quebec. And we did basically bugger-all to compensate for it except graduate struggling kids anyway and send them out into the world and hope for the best. Meanwhile, perhaps not coincidentally, the verb 'swarming' has gained new prominence with respect to gangs of feral youths attacking innocent people — homeless people, pizza franchisees. We will never know if they reoffend, because we can't know their names. The most Toronto Star part of the whole affair: Alongside the article advising children to stay indoors if at all possible, the paper ran another article quoting an expert explaining that people aren't even safe from wildfire smoke inside. You should close all your windows, a University of Waterloo professor advised (because, obviously, everyone has air conditioning). You should even consider taping the windows shut, the Waterloo prof advised, because homes have 'leaks and cracks' through which wildfire-smoke particulates might invade your home. That's absolutely bananas. How far should parents go? Pull their kids out of day camps or sleepover camps? Cancel all their kids' summer recreational activities, hopefully including some unstructured capering around in their neighbourhoods? I don't think parents are that dumb or hysterical. The media they consume shouldn't be either. National Post cselley@ Chris Selley: Toronto dares the Carney government to punish it for ignoring housing demands Chris Selley: We'll thank Travis Dhanraj for 'pulling back the curtain' on CBC News
CTV News
13-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Amid wildfires, air quality awareness is critical for everyone: expert
Air quality expert Jeffrey Brook discusses wildfire smoke, its impact, how long it may last, and how we can adapt to the new normal. As smoke from Manitoba wildfires prompts air quality warnings in four provinces, one expert says increased awareness on the impacts is necessary. 'One of the things that all of us need to do is be aware of the smoke and aware of risks of the smoke and aware of where they can get information on how the levels are going to be,' air quality expert Jeffrey Brook told CTV News Channel in an interview Saturday. 'Often, that's the air quality health index that they have to pay more and more attention to.' Increased awareness on the impacts of smoke is critical given the severity of the air quality in certain areas, he said. According to Environment Canada, there are currently 281 active air quality warnings across Canada. While the poorest air quality is seen in many parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, smoke from the wildfires is also currently affecting most of northern Ontario, as well as some parts of Quebec. 'It's extremely high levels of particulate matter, tiny particles that get deep and down to people's lungs. They're hazardous.' As a result of the smoke, individuals may experience symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches or a mild cough, according to Environment Canada. In more serious cases, symptoms may include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. The agency is advising individuals to limit their time spent outdoors and to consider reducing or rescheduling outdoor activities. In Manitoba, there are currently 107 active fires across the province, prompting multiple evacuations, according to the province's latest wildfire update. These active fires bring the summer's total to 270 wildfires, to date. On Thursday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew placed the province under a second state of emergency this summer. The state of emergency remains in effect until August 9 and may be extended, according to the province. 'This fire season, Manitoba is seeing over 10 times the number of hectares burning compared to the average fire season,' Kinew wrote in a press release. As wildfire smoke continues to impact many parts of Canada, Brook said Canadians might have to continue to become more aware of the impacts of wildfire smoke. 'Things are getting drier and getting warmer,' he said. 'As many people have said, this is kind of the new normal and we're sort of in real time adapting to what our world looks like when it's warmer and hotter and drier.'
CTV News
12-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Air quality expert discusses impact of wildfires, smoke duration, and long-term preparedness
Watch Air quality expert Jeffrey Brook discusses wildfire smoke, its impact, how long it may last, and how we can adapt to the new normal.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Expert warns poor air quality could linger through summer across Canada
Expert warns poor air quality could linger through summer across Canada Air quality expert Jeffrey Brook discusses the nationwide impact of poor air quality, long-term health concerns, and whether conditions may improve this summer.
