"Take a deep breath. Feel good? According to Michael Shackleton, Ontario's air is less polluted these days thanks to government programs designed (in part by him) to improve air quality. In his role as a "toxics and special studies" scientist for the Ministry of the Environment, Shackleton (MSc '87) was instrumental in improving Ontario's air and water quality studies.

In 1989 he helped start a Great Lakes toxics and air quality monitoring program to measure chlorinated organic compounds (like pesticides and dioxins) in air and precipitation. "Some compounds are relatively non-toxic but others, like DDT, have been linked to birth defects in fish-eating birds and mammals."

It's still difficult, however, to directly link the presence of carcinogenic compounds with increased levels of cancer, he says. "It's like smoking - it took a lot of research before people believed cigarettes caused cancer. The same sort of problems exist with toxins."

Shackleton helped coordinate Partners in Air, an Ontario government and industry sponsored Grade 12 and OAC science program where students collect samples and conduct chemical tests to determine the concentration of toxins in the air.

Ironically, for someone who studies air quality, Shackleton rarely gets outside to breathe much of the fresh stuff anymore. Why? Seems he's too busy indoors at his desk planning new ways to keep us all breathing a little easier.

Photo: Ruth Kaplan