Instead, it was construction debris. Crews were installing and sanding exterior polystyrene insulation on a three-story building next to Dellert’s home near Richmond and Bathurst streets, just west of downtown Toronto. The little white beads blowing around the neighborhood were Styrofoam – better known as Styrofoam. “It was literally snowing,” Dellert said. “It covered all my outdoor spaces and because it’s so light, the wind just picks it up and swirls around.” Dellert, who has lived in her home in Toronto’s Queen Street West neighborhood for more than 14 years, said that when she went to the construction site, she was told that crews would clean up what was left on the street and in yards. But despite their best efforts, Dellert said the Styrofoam kept blowing. He said he hired three workers to clean it up, but the pellets were impossible to remove completely. Dellert says her west-downtown Toronto home was covered in styrofoam from construction work on a three-story building next door. (Farrah Merali/CBC) “As they were cleaning up, more and more styrofoam was just blowing off the building, so they stopped because it didn’t make sense. They couldn’t keep up with it,” he said. “It’s just pervasive. It’s there, it’s a mess.” Dellert said she couldn’t use her green roof, patio or hot tub over Labor weekend because of all the debris.. After realizing how difficult it can be to clean up, she said she’s now worried the Styrofoam could have serious effects to health and the environment.
Health, environmental effects of styrofoam
Styrene, a key chemical in Styrofoam, has not only been linked to health issues but can also be harmful to the environment, said Thomas Tenkate, an associate professor in the School of Occupational Public Health at Metropolitan Toronto University. “It has been linked to a number of acute and chronic effects … such as cancer and endocrine disruption symptoms as well as problems related to skin, eye and respiratory irritation,” Tenkate told CBC Toronto. “If someone lives next to a site where they do this all the time, that could potentially have an immediate effect on them as well as a wider impact on the environment.” Styrene, a key chemical in Styrofoam, has not only been linked to health issues but can also be harmful to the environment, says Thomas Tenkate, an associate professor in the School of Occupational Public Health at Metropolitan Toronto University. (Submitted by Lois Dellert) He said Styrofoam, which is non-biodegradable, can have a lasting effect on the environment and animals. “It really breaks and crushes into very small pieces [which] it can be highly dispersed in the air and widely distributed in soil and water,” Tenkate said. “Once it’s in the environment, it’s going to stay there for hundreds and hundreds of years.”
Companies should consider other options, the professor says
Tenkate said construction companies should consider other options for insulation that are biodegradable or recyclable. “Earlier products that we used in construction and building, like lead, like asbestos, we really recognized the effects of those on human health and then we created regulatory structures to move away from their use. ” he said. “And I think we’re kind of in the early stages of recognizing the effects of Styrofoam.” Dellert said she called the city’s 311 service to report the incident and tried to contact city law enforcement to ask about cleanup efforts, but did not receive a response. CBC Toronto reached out to the city of Toronto by email Tuesday and attempted to reach the company doing the construction by phone. The city said it could not provide answers before this story was published, and there has not yet been a response from the company. Dellert says she hired workers to clean up the Styrofoam. But they had to give up because they “couldn’t keep up with it” as it continued to swell from the site. (Submitted by Lois Dellert) Dellert said that despite her and construction crews’ efforts to clean up, there is still Styrofoam throughout the neighborhood. “THE [workers] he found styrofoam pellets in my wood burning chimney,” he said. “They found it stuck to my air conditioners, so it will have to be cleaned repeatedly as more styrofoam blows,” Dellert added. “This is how the whole neighborhood has to be cleaned.”
