Canada Sets Goal to Cut Car Emissions

Article in the New York Times (limited time free availability) describes how Canada is "committed" (whatever that means) to cutting greenhouse emissions down 25% by 2010. I feel a little less sheepish to be Canadian.

Smog linked to premature death

A well-designed study in JAMA links ozone, commonly known as smog, to an increased risk of premature death. This adds to the long roster of health problems associated with ozone. The study was conducted in 95 American cities. Seems Congress and the Administration are more worried about industry than the population as they are trying to further dilute the Clean Air Act. Read theAmerican Lung Association's posting for more information.
You can also read the article: Bell MI, McDermott A, Zeger SL, Samet JM, Dominici F. Ozone and short-term mortality in 95 US urban communities, 1987 to 2000. JAMA. 2004;292:2372-8.

Canada, United States dispute cross-border pollution cleanup

Two members of the Colville Confederated Tribes have filed a lawsuit againt Teck Cominco, a Canadian lead-zinc smelter located in Canada, for polluting the Columbia River in Washington. The citizen lawsuit has evolved into an international dispute that is being used as a case study by international law students on the "extraterritorial application of regulations." See Corvallis Gazette-Times article for more details.

Markham, ON Mayor asks Minister of State for Public Health to halt hydro plans for new lines

Mayor Don Cousens of Markham, ON has asked the Minister of State for Public Health Carolyn Bennett and the Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman to stop Hydro One from installing high-voltage power lines in close proximity to residential areas. He accuses Hydro One and Ontario of ignoring the WHO's policy of applying the precautionary principle. See Yorkregion.com's article.

WHO | Quantifying environmental health impacts

WHO | Quantifying environmental health impacts seems to have some interesting "activities and services" listed on the site, such as:

• Global estimates of burden of disease caused by the environment and occupational risks




• includes risk factors related to water, sanitation, and hygiene; indoor air pollution; urban air pollution; lead; climate change; and occupational categories




• Practice guidelines for assessment of disease burden at national and local levels


• Methods for quantifying environmental health impacts




• includes bibliography of papers from a WHO/ILO consultation




• Cost effectiveness of interventions

Canadians rate environment as #1 concern

A La Presse article reports the results of a CRIC survey showing that the environment, health, and provincial-federal collaboration are the three top priorities of Canadians. Quebecers rated the environment as a higher priority than the rest of the country. See the results of the survey on the CRIC Portraits of Canada web site.

BBC NEWS - Fumes 'not winter asthma trigger'

This article reports that upper respiratory infections increase the risk of asthma attacks in the winter, whereas air pollution has little impact. However, this doesn't eliminate the potential role of air pollution in summer outbreaks, which the researchers will study next summer.

Canada Health Portal: another resource for environmental health information

The Canada Health Portal seems to provide some pretty useful links, including one to the Existing Substances Division (ExSD) of the Environmental Contaminants Bureau of the Safe Environments Programme of Health Canada (now there's a mouthful). ExSD's site is pretty unfriendly as it doesn't seem to be database-driven; however, it does include some good information on how a chemical is defined as toxic, and what the implications of this decision are. They seem to have a staff of about 30: great. That'll keep us safe.

Oh ya, I forgot about Environment Canada's side: they've got something called the Existing Substances Branch (last updated in May 2003!!) for ecological risk assessment. Wonder how many staff they have...

Then there's the CEPA Environmental Registry: check this out if you're looking for a "what's new" on activities related to the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA) Act, 1999. At least this page seems to be current. Also links to a page on Public Participation, as well as Substances Lists, and Enforcement and Compliance

For the uninitiated, more useful US sites for environmental health research

Sadly enough, Canada is way behind the US when it comes to providing access to consumer health information, both online and off. This extends to environmental health information as well. I think the US, despite its latest electoral outcome (guess what my political leaning is... if you guessed Democrat, guess again!), has to be praised for being a strong world leader in terms of providing access to resources like PubMed, a bibliographic database containing indexed references to biomedical literature, and resources on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) site.

Potentially useful resources on the ATSDR site are the Toxicological Profiles. If you're wondering about the deleterious effects of a chemical, check the profiles for an overview of key research on the substance. It's not the only source you should be using, but it's worth a look.

MedlinePlus also lists some useful sites on environmental health. Compare this resource to the Canadian Health Network's Environmental Health page. What are your thoughts?

Vanishing media stories and how to get around the problem

I'm getting really annoyed with the media's online information services. I guess I should be happy to have any access at all to their stories, but from now on I will try to link to, for example, the actual governmental report rather than the story covering it: much more likely to get access to the report one week later. Then again, the Internet offers no guarantees... Another source of irritation is linking to a newspaper from a blog and then being told you have to register for access: argh!!

If you're looking for a way to archive news stories before they are locked away behind pay-per-view, consider using Furl to store the page and its contents. Just keep in mind the copyright issues: technically, you can't link to content you "copied" from another site: be careful to respect your sources. Remember, the corporate media's in it for the money.

The pathetic state of Canadian information online

I'm so fed up with the Canadian government piggybacking on information resources from the US and failing to provide Canadians with access to data they helped pay for. One glaring example of this is the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). I can access 7 of their databases because I'm a member of an academic institution and we get access through the Academic Support Program (ASP); but what about Jane Doe who's trying to research the nefarious effects of cadmium? Can she get access to the reports? Doesn't look like it: she'd have to be a subscriber. Is this fair? I sure as hell don't think so.

Ever wonder why imported fruit looks and tastes so fresh?

Travel is not good for food molecules. In Canada, more than 400 additives are approved, for example, to help your food travel longer distances and look better in the process. Read how brilliant blue and red #2 have been banned in other countries but are still ok for use in Canada in the London Free Press: Today Section - Chemical chaos

Canada failing on the environment

A report tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, October 26, 2004 provides a grim picture of Canada's progress on environmental reform. Johanne Gélinas, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, stated the government seems unwilling to introduce changes or measures to meet its environmental promises. Read the report at 2004 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Great blog: Environmental Health News

If you are interested in keeping abreast of the latest environmental health news, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to EHN. It's an excellent resource that provides its content for syndication, meaning you can incorporate news from EHN directly into your own site. Another great feature is that you can customize the feed to include material that meets your search criteria. I've added the feed to my Bloglines blogroll using "canada" as my search criterion. Visit http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/syndication.jsp for instructions.

Free resources for searching the toxicological literature

I thought I´d add a post about some great resources available in the USA and Canada for searching toxicological literature. TOXNET is a great "cluster of databases" that can be searched together using a very simple interface. You can search HSBD (see the fact sheet on Hazardous Substances Data Bank), IRIS (see the fact sheet on Integrated Risk Information System), ITER (see the fact sheet on International Toxicity Estimates for Risk), Gene-Tox (see the fact sheet), CCRIS (see the fact sheet on Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System), TOXLINE (see the fact sheet), DART/ETIC (see the fact sheet on Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology/Environmental Teratology Information Center Database), TRI (see the fact sheet on EPA's Toxic Chemical Release Inventory), and ChemIDplus (see the fact sheet). It's a good idea to read the fact sheets if you're really interested in toxicological research because you'd be surprised at the usefulness and relevance of these databases.