(website posting Dec 27,2005)
(The Five Smog Reports of June 2005)
Madam Minister
Thank you for visiting us ...at the HPE Health Unit today.
It is a pleasure to meet you.... and to have you with us here.
I would like to address ....an emerging
Canadian ...public health issue,
which is that of air Quality.....and air pollution,...... and Smog.
I have written a letter to you ...on the subject,
and I am pleased to have the opportunity...to address you personally.
One of the 5 essential functions... of public health
is to prevent chronic disease.... including cancer, heart and lung disease.
Smog..... appears to cause...... all of these.
Air pollution in HPE has been significant ....on many days this summer.
The Smog Index...... has often been high.
And physicians often see patients..... with chronic lung disease and asthma
whose breathing is worse..... on smoggy days.
So, does smog have an impact on human health?
The WHO ....says that it does
especially in the elderly, and in those with heart and lung disease.
London, England,.... California,.... Mexico City,... Eastern Europe.
All are places which have suffered ....the health effects of air pollution.
And apparently... Ontario.... has now joined that list.
In June 2005..... no less than 5 expert groups
simultaneously and independently... published reports..... on the issue.
First, the Toronto Public Health.... air pollution study
which predicted ....1700 deaths.... each year in Toronto due to smog.
800 of these....due to acute exposures
compared to 800 acute deaths in Montreal.... And 400 in Ottawa
The authors of the Toronto study note, with regret .......that the federal government
is relying increasingly ......on voluntary ...and educational mechanisms
to achieve reductions .......in industrial air releases.
The same can be said..... about the Ontario provincial government approach
The 2nd June report ..... from the Prevention Division of Cancer Care Ontario
led by Canadian scientists...... Dr. Anthony Miller and Dr. Donald Wigle.
Their observation is ......that in essence,
air pollution..... has the same health effects as..... Cigarette smoke.
Dr. Wigle ......notes that air pollution causes
cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
and possibly prenatal injury
It is not a great surprise .....that smog would cause human disease.
Many of the 80,000 chemicals...... currently in production
are released as industrial emissions.... in the form of very small particles
which penetrate........ into deep lung tissue when inhaled.
Smog includes particles .....of acids, and volatiles, and metals,
all of which.... can have toxic biological effects.
Thus.... smog is a cause of..... air borne disease.
How much disease...... does smog cause?
The Toronto Public Health report....... partially addresses this.
and The Ontario Medical Association..... produced the 3rd June report
entitled ICAP...the Illness Cost of Air Pollution study...
which provides further quantification.
According to the OMA ......in Ontario in 2005
smog will cause,..... through its immediate effects
6,000 premature deaths , ...... 17,000 hospital admissions,
60,000 emergency room visits,..... and 30 million minor illnesses
For HPE Counties, .......the OMA predicts
85... premature deaths in 2005...... attributable to bad air.
The population of HPE is 150,000.
By comparison, there were 7 deaths at Walkerton
due to water borne disease .....in the 2000 outbreak there
The great majority...... of premature deaths due to smog
will be suffered by .......the elderly.
Is it a stretch to believe..... that 85 people will die prematurely
of heart attacks....... or exacerbations of chronic lung disease
in Hastings Prince Edward this year.......due to chemically polluted air?
Based on my own observations ...in clinical practice,
I don't think so......There is a good theoretical basis
for understanding......how this can happen.
How much .......chemical pollution
is being released........ into the environment in the Great Lakes Basin
where 30 million people.. drink the water..... and breathe the air?
The federal governments...... of Canada and the U. S.
have both been reporting on this...... for at least a decade now.
The 4th June report on the issue ......came from the International Joint Commission
biennial meeting ....... in Kingston .......
The IJC........ has long recommended
Zero Discharge....... or Virtual elimination
Of Persistent Toxic chemicals ......into the GLB
Unfortunately the actual figures ......for chemical releases
are staggering .........in their inconsistency ...with this goal.
There are various interpretations of the federal data:
e. g. according to the Canadian Environmental Law Association
1 Billion Kg of chemicals .....are released every year
by Canadian industry...... into the GLB, mainly into the air.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Environment
600,000 Tonnes of VC's , ......which include many carcinogens
are released each year in Ontario........ by industry.
13,760 T (= 1 M kg) of toxic/carcinogenicchemicals
as defined under the CEPA.........were released in Canada in 2000.
The 5th June report.....came from
the Commission for Environmental Cooperation....created under NAFTA,
when they published....... their 9th annual catalog of toxic emissions
The CEC, like the IJC, ......found the volume of chemical releases
by both countries....... to be unacceptable.
So, that is a summary of the 5....... June 2005 Smog Reports...
to which ......I might add my own.
Locally .....I have had the opportunity to look specifically
at three industries...... which have an interest in burning... hazardous waste,
a practice which ...can release toxic waste
into air, soil or water.
Company A is currently doing so,
Company B has a license to do so,
and Company C is applying for a license to do so.
Based on my review .......of these local examples
my impression is .....that the Air Standards in this province
which these companies...... have to meet
in order to achieve their objectives .....are ineffective.
Canadian scientist..... Dr. Donald Chant...
who founded Pollution Probe.......35 years ago
warned..... that without effective control of industrial emissions
we would be in the position....... that we find ourselves today.
Indeed, things seem to be getting worse.
The yellow dome of smog ....over the City of Toronto
is a new ....summer spectacle.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act
regulates ........relatively few..... chemicals.
Environment Canada is creating .....a Table... of experts
to advise the department......on regulation of chemicals,
but...... the Table will be co chaired
by Industry Canada..... and the chair of Imperial Oil.
MoE Ontario Air Standards,.........are 30 years out of date.
An updating process ...has been under way for 10 years now.
The Organization for Economic Development .....identifies Canada
as one of the worst polluters..... in the industrialized world.
To conclude,.......five reports on smog
all appeared two months ago, .....in June 2005.
They clearly indicate.... the impact that air pollution
is having... on the health of citizens in Canada
The release of 1 Billion kg ......of chemicals annually
by Canadian industry...... into the Great Lakes Basin
is obviously..... completely unacceptable.
There has been a very clear failure ......by both countries
to control...... industrial air pollution.
In Canada, .....that is the responsibility
of the federal .......and the provincial governments.
Madam Minister,...... you are a physician....and you are the federal minister
responsible for public health .......in this country.
I respectfully... submit...... for your consideration
that in the matter of air quality
there is a great deal of work to be done .
It is well known...and I have heard...
corporate industrial engineers.....
make the statement.....that profitable industries
can.... effectively control .....their poisonous discharges,
but..... that they will only do so
when regulations require...... mandatory compliance.
Therefore..... you have an opportunity here.
I invite you to do what you can .....to improve the situation
in the interests of ...the public health.
Madam Minister.
A. C. Goddard-Hill, B.Sc, M.D