The TTC is moving ahead with a $500,000 study of air quality in the subway system, after a highly-publicized Health Canada report released earlier this year found high concentrations of pollutants in the agency’s underground lines.

A report that went before the agency’s board on Tuesday revealed details of the study, which was originally approved in May and will mark the first time the TTC has tested its subway air since 1995.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the board and put forward the original motion to proceed with the research, said the study was necessary even though he doesn’t believe underground pollution poses an immediate health threat.

“I think that you want to improve the quality in air systems wherever they are, and of course the TTC, there are hundreds of thousands of people who use it every day, so you want to make sure that that subway is functioning well, from an air quality point of view,” he said.

According to the board report, third-party consultants have been tapped to conduct the study over a one-year period. The researchers will measure pollution levels in the subway system air as well as monitor the exposure of the transit workers who spend the most time underground. Subway operators, train guards, track patrollers, janitors, transit enforcement officers, and fare collectors are among the positions that have been singled out for monitoring.

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