GO Transit: Construction Projects (Metrolinx, various)

[steveintoronto]

Knew it was a matter of time until this showed:

GO Transit passengers at risk for exposure to diesel exhaust
[...]
While Metrolinx plans to electrify about 80 per cent of the GO network, the project isn’t scheduled to be complete until 2024. Percy said that the agency can’t move any faster. “If we could we would.”

He noted that the $2-billion electrification plan involves a lengthy study and design process, and is complicated by the fact that it will have to be implemented on active rail corridors.

“We’re going as fast as all of that can come together,” Percy said.

That’s unlikely to satisfy critics who will see the study’s findings as vindication of their calls to electrify Metrolinx lines sooner. [...]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...s-at-risk-for-exposure-to-diesel-exhaust.html

lol...there's those dates again. They magically appear any time it's convenient to deflect other problems, but disappear when convenient to promote how imminent electrification is.

Plus the diesel emissions are damaging, which most of us already knew anyway.

 

[nfitz]

We also know that there is exhaust in/near the 400-series highway corridors. So how does sitting on GO Train compare to sitting on the highway in a car?

 

[steveintoronto]

We also know that there is exhaust in/near the 400-series highway corridors. So how does sitting on GO Train compare to sitting on the highway in a car?

We all know that torture and rape is rampant in other nations. How does that affect our laws and permissible pollution levels?

New research from the University of Toronto has found that in some circumstances passengers on commuter trains are at risk for exposure to “markedly high levels” of carcinogenic diesel exhaust. Passengers in the car directly behind the locomotive are at particular risk.

The study recommends that “immediate steps be taken to evaluate and where needed mitigate exposure in all diesel powered passengers trains” and that “passengers with existing cardiac or respiratory conditions may as a precaution want to travel near the rear” of trains being pulled by a locomotive.

The study was shared with the Star in advance of its expected publication this week by the journal Atmospheric Environment. Over the past year its authors showed their findings to Metrolinx, the provincial agency that operates GO, and officials say they have already taken steps to reduce pollution inside their coaches.[...]

 

[drum118]

Metrolinx Air quality study on GO Train coaches

 

[crs1026]

Is there an industrial health standard for these measures? How does sitting on a GO train in the first coach compare to the generally accepted thresholds?

- Paul

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Is there an industrial health standard for these measures? How does sitting on a GO train in the first coach compare to the generally accepted thresholds?
- Paul

Health Canada:

Particulates -
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-can...late-matter-pm2-5-residential-indoor-air.html

Other pollutants -
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-can...esidential-indoor-air-quality-guidelines.html

I am surprised the study only looked at two.

AoD

 

[steveintoronto]

I am surprised the study only looked at two.
AoD

Indeed! That was exactly my point in coming back to post, rushed for a meeting, and as much as Metrolinx are handling this as best they can, *particulates alone* are only part of the problem. Nitrous Oxides and other gases are the other.

There's huge amounts on-line on this, and some cities are now curbing diesel vehicles in their cores. I was just reading on London's surcharge to park.
From Drum's link:

After installing and testing new high-efficiency filters on select trains, we’ve found that they significantly improve onboard air quality. While further testing is needed, we are on track to have the new filters on all train cars by the end of March to ensure we see immediate improvements.

As anyone who's worked in a contaminated atmosphere knows, you can't filter out gas with simple mechanical filters.

This has been a huge issue on airplanes, as the cabin air-supply comes from engine bleed...must run, post reference later.
Quick Edit Add: EPA had this issue with trucks over five years ago. Tier IV does *nothing* to reduce the inevitable oxide gases from combustion. You could use an oxygen supply for the prime oxidant instead of air, but that ain't gonna happen.

Time to get the plugs fixed to go electric. And do it yesterday.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Indeed! That was exactly my point in coming back to post, rushed for a meeting, and as much as Metrolinx are handling this as best they can, *particulates alone* are only part of the problem. Nitrous Oxides and other gases are the other.

There's huge amounts on-line on this, and some cities are now curbing diesel vehicles in their cores. I was just reading on London's surcharge to park.
From Drum's link:
As anyone who's worked in a contaminated atmosphere knows, you can't filter out gas with simple mechanical filters.

This has been a huge issue on airplanes, as the cabin air-supply comes from engine bleed...must run, post reference later..

Activated charcoal always works - but that's probably not what they have in mind.

AoD

 

[steveintoronto]

Activated charcoal always works - but that's probably not what they have in mind.

AoD

Afraid not:
Br J Anaesth. 1996 Sep;77(3):432-4.
An effective method of scavenging nitric oxide.
Squire S1, Kightley R, Petros AJ.
Author information
Abstract
We report an effective method of scavenging nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. We have compared three agents, a commercially available filter, soda lime and activated charcoal, for their effectiveness and duration of action. Complete absorption of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide for a period of 170 h was obtained using the commercial filter. However, soda lime and charcoal were unable to successfully scavenge either gas. The resistance characteristics of this filter when dry or humidified were determined.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8949828

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Afraid not:

The bright side is NOx isn't a carcinogen (tough luck if you have asthma or COPD). PAH on the other hand is.

AoD

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

The bright side is NOx isn't a carcinogen (tough luck if you have asthma or COPD). PAH on the other hand is.

AoD

That's no bright side. NOx (and ground level ozone it can form) can impact anyone's cardiovascular health, whether you have an existing condition or not.

Anyway, one thing I found interesting is that I haven't heard a peep from CTC yet.

 

[steveintoronto]

Nitrous Oxides are considered *THE* major pollutant and health problem by the EPA and many other health and safety agencies. As a side note, the US was actually well ahead of Europe on this...to the point that complicity by EU reg. agencies with the auto manufacturers is highly suspect. We've yet to fully realize that issue, it's slowly coming out.

But to keep this on-topic, I just watched an admittedly pre-Tier IV F59 go by spewing exhaust, and clearly, at least in this weather, the trailing plume was caught by the slip-stream of the following coaches such that it wafted by every intake grating on each of the six coaches. A turbo-boost to shoot that plume further away might be a simple, immediate abatement to the levels now being inhaled.

There are ways this can immediately be mitigated, but it will cost more. The EPA have published many papers on diesel engine exhaust product abatement, I'll quote a few that Metrolinx technical staff are already aware of, but the PR dep't had damn well best consult them before making this into an even worse mess.

Detuning of the timing/fuel cycle I've mentioned prior on the F59s. You are going to lose power, up to 20% typically doing this, and with one reduction of components, another rises, as is the case with 'running lean'. It also greatly reduces engine life, but I digress...

First an engineering view:

Platinum Metals Rev., 2005, 49, (3), 119
doi:10.1595/147106705x58394

Diesel Engines: Design and Emissions
REVIEW OF A COURSE ON DIESEL PARTICULATES AND NOx EMISSIONS
[...]
Emissions
Diesel engines offer the possibility of combining very high thermal efficiencies with very low emissions, and their good fuel efficiency results in low carbon dioxide emissions. The main problem areas for diesel engines are emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates, and these two pollutants are traded against each other in many aspects of engine design. Very high temperatures in the combustion chamber help reduce the emission of soot but produce higher levels of nitric oxide (NO). Lowering the peak temperatures in the combustion chamber reduces the amount of NO produced but increases the likelihood of soot formation. Better mixing of the air and fuel is the key to lower emissions. The NO produced rapidly oxidises to NO2 (collectively called NOx). NOx combines with hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight to form low level ozone. This leads to smog formation.[...]

http://www.technology.matthey.com/article/49/3/119-121/

Agency labels diesel engine exhaust emissions as ‘carcinogenic’ and other revelations
May 17, 2013Air pollution, Health impacts, Particulates, Smog, TransportationAlan Kandel

In a May 1st Air Quality Matters blog post, I referenced the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) document titled: “Second Report to Congress: Highlights of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Program,” a document to be of particular relevance and importance. (To learn more and read what I had written, see: “EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction program is showing promise”).

Since that time I have learned via the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) “Reducing the € 45 billion health cost of air pollution from lorries” Feb. 28, 2013 news release, that, “While air pollution in Europe has fallen significantly in recent years, it is still a problem in some parts of Europe, where [heavy goods vehicles] can be a major factor, the [“Road user charges for heavy goods vehicles (HGV)”] report notes. Diesel, used by most HGVs, causes more air pollution per kilometre than other fuels such as petrol. Exhaust emissions from diesel engines were recently labelled as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.” [...]

http://alankandel.scienceblog.com/2...ssions-as-carcinogenic-and-other-revelations/

From the EPA, I won't quote the regulatory aspects, which are legion, but will quote noted recommendations for abatement in design and practice by the agency that pertain in this case:

[...]

[...continues at length...]
https://www3.epa.gov/ttncatc1/dir1/fnoxdoc.pdf

 

[steveintoronto]

We do have to be careful not to throw the affected baby out with the polluted bathwater though, and Fitz has a point in *relative danger* to being on roads, albeit ostensibly that will be detailed and examined in the pending report. That they gave Metrolinx a 'heads-up' is indicative of concerning results forthcoming.

I've been searching for papers on this subject, contrary to at least the media report linked prior, this is hardly a new investigation. Most papers are unavailable to non-subcribers, but this is:
[/quote]

[...]
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115300426

Another one partial open access here:

Abandoning diesel because of health perspectives: are there reasonable alternatives?
G. Vreugdenhil
H. F. J. Mannaerts
Ann Oncol (2016) 27 (7): 1360-1361.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdw166
Published:
06 April 2016

https://academic.oup.com/annonc/art...ndoning-diesel-because-of-health-perspectives

 

[smallspy]

Tier IV does *nothing* to reduce the inevitable oxide gases from combustion. You could use an oxygen supply for the prime oxidant instead of air, but that ain't gonna happen.

Really? Then you should let the EPA know about that, because that doesn't jive with the numbers on their own website.

https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-emissions-locomotives

And just for fun, a presentation to a group of railfans from someone at the EPA at the time: https://www.northeastdiesel.org/pdf/NERRClub.pdf

Or how about a comparative chart showing the various steps, from Tier 0 through to Tier 4? https://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/loco.php

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[steveintoronto]

Really? Then you should let the EPA know about that, because that doesn't jive with the numbers on their own website.

lol...a little testy are we?

Let me clarify: It only reduces them. My mistake, point stands. And as it reduces them, others go up, mostly particulates. I articulated that in the posts. And I quoted the EPA sections pertaining albeit to read them all, you'd have to access the link provided. There are then steps that can further reduce those, but the gases remain the greatest challenge.

I would have thought you to be more attuned to the details of the media article, in that in did the studies on the Richmond Hill Line. IIRC, that is the pre-Tier IV locos, assuming it was the Tier II F-59s and the six car sets. IIRC, the F-59s, when refurbished five years ago, were cleaned up a bit, albeit the full kits weren't added.

Feel free to add any details on that you might have...

Metrolinx were careful to leave themselves some wiggle room in pointing to (gist) "Tier IV replacement".

But then again, I might have it all wrong, and it was Tier IV equipment that was measured. Best you plan your rebut tirade ahead of time if that is the case.