Air quality in Hamilton, Mississauga and Oshawa equals smoking 96 to 116 cigarettes a year

Recent studies show Hamilton, Mississauga and Oshawa have some of the worst air quality in Canada, as residents in each city indirectly inhale the equivalent of between 96 and 116 cigarettes in a year.

The worldwide study was conducted by House Fresh, a publication that studies air quality and reviews air products. Their recent study weighed the air quality in nearly every capital city on Earth and more specific breakdowns of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

To do so, they measured the particulate matter in the air of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5). Given the tiny size of such particles, they are able to “penetrate deep into your lungs and cause serious damage,” according to House Fresh. A micron equals 0.001 millimetres or one millionth of a metre.

Next, House Fresh converted the PM2.5 to cigarettes smoked. One cigarette per day is the rough equivalent of a PM2.5 level of 22 micrograms per square metre.

With this data, they ranked the 16 Canadian cities with the worst air quality as;

1. Montreal at 124 cigarettes in a year
2. Windsor at 123
3. Hamilton at 116
4. Kitchener at 115
5. Ottawa at 113
6. London at 110
7. Quebec City at 109
8. Mississauga at 108
9. Toronto “The Big Smoke” at 104
10. Edmonton at 97
11. Oshawa at 96
12. Winnipeg at 88
13. Victoria t 86
14. Calgary at 83
15. Halifax at 80 and
16. Vancouver at a distant 59

These findings show that 86 per cent of all Canadians live in areas that exceed the World Health Organization guidelines. However, the air in Canadian cities remains far cleaner than some of our global peers.

Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory has worse air quality than any Canadian city at 133 smokes per year. However, most of their other cities compare well to Canada.

Runner-up and Victoria Territory capital Melbourne, sitting 3,700 kilometres south, comes in at 103 cigarettes a year. As Australia’s second most populous city, it compares to Toronto’s 104 cigarettes a year. Sydney, home to 5.2 million people, performed better than any Canadian city except Vancouver, with air quality equivalent to 66 smokes a year.

While bested by their down under cousins, Canadian cities stack up well compared to their more immediate southern neighbours.

Canada’s worst air quality city, Montreal, would rank 19th among peers in the United States. Los Angeles is the worst city in the US, with air quality of 193 smokes in a year.

The US ranking is:

1. Los Angeles – 193
2. San Diego – 163
3. Houston – 162
4. Louisville – 160,
5. Atlanta – 158
6. San Antonio – 153
7. Indianapolis – 152
8. Detroit -151
9. Fresno – 148
10. Austin – 144
11. Oklahoma City – 143
12. Tallahassee & Nashville – 142
13. Jacksonville & Memphis – 137
14. Charlotte – 131
15. Fort Worth – 130
16. Baltimore, Chicago & Milwaukee – 129
17. Philadelphia & Columbus – 128
18. Dallas – 125
19. Miami – 121
20. Washington D.C.

Hamilton’s 116 smokes per year quality would rank 22 on the American list, right behind New Orleans and San Jose, which tie for 21st. Mississauga’s 108 would sit slightly better than Phoenix’s 110 to come in 26th. Only Portland (79) and Honolulu (69) rank better than Oshawa (96).

Meanwhile, Northampton is home to the worst air quality in the United Kingdom at 189 cigarettes per year. Nottingham (181), Bristol (163), Southampton (162) and Kingston upon Hull (160) round out the top five.

Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has the worst air quality outside of England at 160 cigarettes a year, ranking sixth, while London comes in ninth at 154 smokes per year. Belfast (123) ranks the worst in Northern Ireland and 20th overall, while Glasgow (92) is the worst in Scotland and 24th overall.

However, these more developed cities in more developed countries rank far better than developing cities. Metropolitan cities in Africa and Asia show far worse air quality.

The worst air quality among the world capitals belongs to;

1. Dhaka, Bangladesh – 1,176 cigarettes per year
2. Baghdad, Iraq – 1,009
3. N’Djamena, Chad – 909
4. New Delhi, India – 894
5. Manama, Bahrain – 769
6. Kuwait City, Kuwait – 784
7. Bamako, Mali – 764
8. Kampala, Uganda – 712
9. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 655
10. Kathmandu, Nepal – 644

Down the list,

• Lima, Peru (454 smokes/year) ranks 19th
• Beijing, China (504) ranks 23rd,
• Mexico City, Mexico (265) ranks 35th,
• Seoul, South Korea (288) ranks 37th,
• Jerusalem, Israel (228) ranks 43rd,
• Athens, Greece (227) ranks 45th,
• Rome, Italy (198) rank 48th,
• Paris, France (181) ranks 54th,
• Moscow, Russia and Berlin, Germany (163) tie for 61st/62nd,
• Buenos Aires, Argentina (155) ranks 66th,
• London, UK (154) ranks 67th,
• Tokyo, Japan (148) ranks 69th,
• Washington D.C. (118) ranks 76th,
• Kyiv, Ukraine (114) ranks 78th
• Ottawa, Canada (113) ranks 79th

Finally, the cities with the cleanest air were found to be

1. Bern, Switzerland (11 cigarettes per year) ranked 101
2. Riga, Latvia (21),
3. Brasilia, Brazil (28);
4. Tegucigalpa, Honduras (49);
5. Gibraltar (50);
6. Nairobi, Kenya (55),
7. Reykjavik, Iceland (58);
8. Minsk, Belarus (60) & Lusaka, Zambia (60);
9. Antananarivo, Madagascar (61), and
10. Nouméa, New Caledonia (68)