Dust from Turcot Interchange construction often above acceptable levels, data shows

Yves Lavoie didn't know he had asthma until two years ago, when dust coming from the reconstruction of the TurcotInterchange lefthim feeling ill.

"I'm not a scientist. I don't know if it's the cause, but I've been sick since the work started," said the Saint-Henri resident,who lives near the construction site.

"It was so bad that I wanted to leave the area, to move,"Lavoiesaid.

• Dust, noise from Turcot Interchange rankles residents

Lavoie's symptoms have easedas the amount of dust in the air decreased, but data obtained by CBCNews shows thaton some days over the past two years,the dust has been13 times abovegovernment-recommended limits.

The chart below shows the daily average concentration of dust captured by an air quality sensor close to the site, on Notre-Dame Street nearGadboisPark.

Each square representsone day since Jan. 8, 2016.

The concentration of dust inthe area has fallen from all-time highs in the spring of 2016, when the data shows that nearly every day the dust in the air was thick enough to taste and tocoatparked cars.

But there are still days when dust levels surpassthe government-recommended limits of0.15 mg of particles per cubic metre over 24 hours.

Residents near the construction site have complained aboutnoise and dustsince the project began in 2015, prompting public health officials to press Transports Qubec to act.

That's when the ministry installedfour pollution sensorsaround the construction site and alertedresidents when levels surpassed government-recommended limits.

CBCNews found that betweenall the sensors, dust levels have exceeded those normson 460 days since the start of 2016.

The dust was heaviest inthe immediate area of the construction site.

Another sensor on Richelieu Street (number 101 on the map below) only registered excessive dust on 137 days since 2016.

"There's days you can see the dust everywhere you walk," said resident Jill Prescesky, who is a member of a committee that tracks the Turcot project's effects on the neighbourhood.

"Once it's in your lungs, it's there. There's nothing you can do."

Few long-term health risks

Construction dust is usually made of particles too large to infiltrate the lungs, whichare usually filtered by the nose and throat. Thehealth effectsare mostly temporary, said Dr.GeoffroyDenis, head of occupational health at the theCIUSSSCentre-Sud,the regional health agency serving the most affectedarea.

People might experience irritation of the eyes and throat, and the dustcould aggravate seasonal allergies or asthma, Denis said.

"These symptoms tend to disappear as soon as the dust lowers," he said.

Dust levelstendto be highestduring the spring,for several reasons, said Transports Qubec spokespersonMartin Girard.

Construction activity usually picks up when the weather gets warmer, andwinds tend to be stronger in the spring, which sends dust further afield.

"When there's a lot of wind, it's hard to control the dust, even with mitigating measures," Girardsaid.

Certain jobs, like the demolition of tallstructures and the transportation of dirt, are tricky for dust control, he said.

Among its control measures, theministry deployed dust-trapping water cannons around the site and sweptthe streetsand sidewalks after major work. It also lowered the speed limit around the site.

Girardcouldn'tsay to what extent such measures had an impact on dust levels, but on average, the number of days of excessive dust havewanedsince 2016, and residentscontacted by CBCNews say the dust is more tolerable now than it's been in the past.

Summer was worse, "probably because the windows are open," saidMalaka Ackaoui, who sits ona neighbourhood committee that exchanges information with Transports Qubec on the construction's progress.

"The house would get very dirty when you have the windows open and there's construction outside. There's more dust in the air."

- With files from CBC'sKate McKenna