Few experiences are as frustrating as sitting amidst , sometimes for hours at a time, feeling your blood pressure rise as the clock ticks to — and past — your scheduled obligations. It’s a feeling many in the city can relate with. , its drivers spending nearly 200 hours every year caught in rush hour gridlock.
The report placed the city among the most difficult in the world to drive in. The cumulative days’ worth of time spent locked in one position, immersed in vehicle exhaust, stress and , may slowly be whittling away our health, experts tell the Star. Take a look at some of the ways our bodies can be affected.
The health toll of traffic pollution is well documented by a litany of studies, from by heart disease, stroke and lung cancer to potentially permanently . It’s especially taxing on young children, raising their chances of developing asthma and serious respiratory infections, according to Jeffrey Brook, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “There’s some evidence that it affects the unborn fetus,” Brook told the Star, pointing to that found altered DNA in the umbilical cord blood of newborns, specifically in regions related to lung development, after being exposed to traffic pollution while in the womb.
Idling vehicles caught in gridlock for hours continue to spew pollutants into the air, miring drivers and the surroundings in carcinogenic compounds, Brook explained: “Ultimately, the amount of emi.