Item - 2016.HL12.3

4.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to report back in 2017 on the implementation of a point-of-sale display program requiring all dry cleaners to clearly disclose to customers the types of solvents used to clean garments and any known hazards these solvents pose to public health.

5.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to collaborate with the General Manager, Toronto Water to ensure that solvents and other toxic chemicals used and potentially released to sewers by the following sectors be included in Toronto Water’s current review of the Sewers By-law subject pollutants: auto body painting and repair, dry cleaning, fabricated metal product manufacturing, food manufacturing and wood product manufacturing.

6.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to institute an incentive program to encourage the transition from the use of perchloroethylene in dry cleaning to water-based professional cleaning as the most economically viable and environmentally preferred method for garment care.

The goal of the ChemTRAC program is to protect public health by reducing toxic chemicals in our environment. The key feature of the program is the disclosure of information on the manufacture, use and release of priority substances to the public.

In 2015, 630 facilities provided data to ChemTRAC for operations during the 2014 calendar year. In total, approximately 82,000 tonnes of priority substances were reported as manufactured, processed or used in 2014. Of this amount, about 9 percent (7,000 tonnes) was released to the environment, mostly to air. The total annual releases reported in 2014 were 15 percent lower than those reported in 2012, the first year when the City received data from all sectors subject to the Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw.

While the decline observed in the total releases over the past years is encouraging, only 17 percent of the reporting facilities showed a sustained reduction in releases for the period of 2012 to 2014. This indicates that more can be done to ensure widespread implementation of pollution prevention measures.

A survey conducted in 2013 indicated that small and medium size businesses need assistance to identify and implement pollution prevention opportunities in their facilities. The business panel, as part of the ChemTRAC Pollution Prevention Pilot Project, identified that sector specific programs were the best approach to promote pollution prevention.

Toronto Public Health has identified five sectors that would benefit most from a City initiative: auto body painting and repair, dry cleaning, fabricated metal product manufacturing, food manufacturing and wood product manufacturing. To maximize effectiveness, ChemTRAC will focus on one sector at a time, starting with the dry cleaning sector.

To encourage the sectors to take on pollution prevention initiatives, Toronto Public Health will be working with partners including various business associations, Toronto Water, Energy and Environment Division, Partners in Project Green, Toronto Atmospheric Fund, and the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.