The TTC’s largest union is demanding an emergency meeting with transit agency officials after researchers discovered elevated levels of pollution in the subway system. The leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents 11,000 TTC workers, say they’re concerned employees are being exposed to potentially hazardous substances on the job. They’re also demanding to know why TTC management didn’t alert workers to the issue sooner. Researchers collected the measurements in 2010 and 2011 with the TTC’s co-operation, but the resulting study wasn’t published until Tuesday. Kevin Morton, secretary-treasurer of Local 113, said the union didn’t learn about it until it made the news.“It begs the question, why am I finding out about this on the front page of the Toronto Star? Why didn’t the TTC come and talk to us?” he said.“How long have they known, what did they know, and what has the TTC done to protect the workers?” The study, which was led by Health Canada, found that concentrations of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 were 10 times higher on the TTC subway than in the air. The researchers said the levels of particulate matter were the equivalent of a typical day in notoriously smoggy Beijing. The fine particulate matter had significant levels of iron and manganese, and the authors concluded it was likely generated by the steel-on-steel friction of the trains’ wheels against the tracks. According to Morton, transit workers have been concerned about air quality for years. He said that when he worked in an underground office at Lawrence subway station in the 1990s, the daily buildup of particulates was visible. “I would come in every morning and have to take wet naps and other paper towels to clean my desk, to clean my computer, to clean my seat,” he said. “It was terrible.” The TTC has over 600 subway operators, who according to Mort ...
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