Pollution In Canada Research Articles

Decades of monitoring plastic pollution in seabirds in Canada: Spatial, temporal, and methodological insights

Plastic ingestion by seabirds is an increasing issue worldwide, yet species can vary in ingestion based on ecological and morphological differences. This provokes the ecological question of which species are better suited to monitor plastic ingestion across regions and time. In Canada, we examined plastic ingestion in sympatric northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia), and black guillemots (Cepphus grylle). Here, we present new data and compare to historical work to inform plastic pollution monitoring in Canada. In 2021, 51 % of fulmars, 7 % of kittiwakes and 7 % of murres contained plastic, whereas guillemots had no pieces >1 mm. Regardless of the methods used to collect and process samples, fulmars continue to have low levels of ingestion compared to the European Arctic, but high levels compared to other species in the Canadian Arctic, emphasizing their continued utility as a monitoring tool for plastic pollution in Canada.

Forecasting Methane Data Using Multivariate Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks

Over the past few decades, Alberta has witnessed a remarkable expansion in its oil and gas sector. Unfortunately, this growth has come at a cost, as Alberta has become the fastest-growing source of pollutant emissions in greenhouse gases (GHGs), sulphur emissions, and water pollution in Canada. Among these GHGs, methane stands out as the second most prevalent GHG, possessing a global warming potential ~ 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over a span of 100 years, and ~ 80 times higher over a period of 20 years. Since 1986, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has been diligently gathering data on methane concentrations. Although this data is publicly available, its analysis has not been thoroughly explored. Our study aims to investigate the impact of temperature, wind speed, and wind direction on the predictions of methane concentration time series data, utilizing a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model. Our findings indicate that the inclusion of climate variables enhances the predictive capabilities of the LSTM model. However, the results show that it is not obvious which variable has the most impact on the improvement although temperature appears to have a better effect on improving predictive performance compared to wind speed and direction. The results also suggest that the variance of the input data does not affect forecasting performance.

Multi-pollutant urban study on acute respiratory hospitalization and mortality attributable to ambient air pollution in Canada for 2001–2012

Humans inhale a mixture of various air pollutants, and there is ambiguity whether these pollutants act independently or in an additive, synergistic, or antagonistic manner. We aimed to examine differences in adverse health effects of short-term exposure to air pollution through single-versus multi-pollutant models. We collected daily ambient air pollutants (O3, NO2 and PM2.5) concentrations from 24 Canadian urban centers from 2001 to 2012. We examined between-pollutant correlations and estimated their associations with respiratory hospitalization and mortality. We applied a generalized quasi-Poisson model to each city adjusting for one and/or two pollutants. Then we employed a Bayesian hierarchical model to pool the city-specific estimates for national estimates. We also examined 0- to 6-day air pollutant lagged effects by season. Overall, we found more frequently significant effects from single-pollutant models (vs. multi-pollutant models), for hospitalization (vs. mortality), for O3 (vs. NO2, PM2.5), for warm (vs. cold) season, and for lags ≤2 days (vs. 3–6 days). The most consistent effects appeared on respiratory hospitalization for 1-day lagged O3 and PM2.5, but not NO2. This study found little additive or antagonistic risk of respiratory health outcomes from multi-pollutant models due to low-to-medium correlations among the specified air pollutants.

Outdoor Air Pollution and Depression in Canada: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study from 2011 to 2016.

To assess whether exposure to increased levels of outdoor air pollution is associated with psychological depression, six annual iterations of the Canadian Community Health Survey (n ≈ 127,050) were used to estimate the prevalence of a major depressive episode (2011–2014) or severity of depressive symptoms (2015–2016). Survey data were linked with outdoor air pollution data obtained from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, with outdoor air pollution represented by fine particulate matter ≤2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Log-binomial models were used to estimate the association between outdoor air pollution and depression, and included adjustment for age, sex, marital status, income, education, employment status, urban versus rural households, cigarette smoking, and chronic illness. No evidence of associations for either depression outcomes were found. Given the generally low levels of outdoor air pollution in Canada, these findings should be generalized with caution. It is possible that a meaningful association with major depression may be observed in regions of the world where the levels of outdoor air pollution are greater, or during high pollution events over brief time intervals. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to further investigate these associations in other regions and populations.

Macro-Level optimization of hydrogen infrastructure and supply chain for zero-emission vehicles on a canadian corridor

Abstract The transportation sector has been the largest contributor to emissions and pollution in Canada. Climate and public health have been negatively affected by the consumption of fossil fuels by conventional vehicles. The rollout of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) has not yet occurred due to a conundrum. Specifically, a refueling infrastructure is required for the mass deployment of FCEVs, but the commercialization of FCEVs is required for investments, thus leading to the question of which will be required first, vehicle commercialization or hydrogen refueling stations. This paper develops a multi-objective model to determine the optimal sizes and locations of the hydrogen infrastructure needed to generate and distribute hydrogen for the key Highway Corridor (HWY 401) in Ontario. The model is used to aid the early-stage transition plan for the conversion of conventional vehicles to FCEVs in Ontario by proposing a feasible solution to the infrastructure dilemma posed by the initial adoption of hydrogen as fuel in the general market. The health benefit from the pollution reduction is also determined to show the potential social and economic incentives of using FCEVs. The results show that hydrogen production and delivery cost can reduce from $22.7/kg H2 in a 0.1% market share scenario to $14.7/kg H2 in a 1% market share scenario. The environmental and health benefit of developing hydrogen refueling infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles is 1.63 million dollar per year and 1.45 million dollars per year, respectively. Also, every kilogram of H2 can avoid 11.09 kg CO2 from entering the atmosphere. In a 1% market share scenario, proposed hydrogen network avoids more than 37,000 tonnes CO2 per year.

The asymmetric effects of oil price changes on environmental pollution: evidence from the top ten carbon emitters.

The basic purpose of this study is to scrutinize the asymmetric effect of oil price changes on environmental pollution in Canada, China, India, Iran, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. The study uses time series annual data of selected courtiers from 1981 to 2018 and applies non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model to examine the long- and short-run asymmetries. The results show that positive shocks in diesel prices in the USA, India, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Iran, and Canada, while negative shocks in China and India reduce carbon emissions in the long run. However, an increase in gasoline prices in Russia and Iran while the decrease in gasoline prices in the USA, Russia, Japan, and Canada decreases in carbon emissions in the long run. Asymmetric findings also suggest that positive and negative changes in oil prices affect carbon emissions differently in China, the USA, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Canada in the short and long run. However, sign and magnitude of positive and negative shocks of oil prices are more important in environmental economics polices. Therefore, based on sign and magnitude, more taxation of fossil fuel and clean energy subsidies are recommended for the top carbon-emitting economies.

How Environmental Issues Affect Human Rights: A Case Study of Air Pollution in Canada

The effect of environmental issues on our human rights cannot be overemphasized. Air pollution in Canada and all over the world threatens basic human rights such as the right to health, a clean environment, and the right to life. Despite the adoption of numerous laws and regulations, air pollution is still a major environmental issue in Canada which has to be controlled. Air pollution is a breach of fundamental human right and the increase in air pollution has been seen to continuously lead to premature deaths in children living in Canada and all over the world. To this end, there should be binding laws controlling the issue and ensuring that the government is held accountable for the protection of human health against air pollution. There should be strong and impenetrable legislation made in that regard to maintain adherence to the law and as well as challenge the government when it defaults. This article focuses on throwing more light on the possible ways to curb air pollution and revive the people’s right to life and a healthy environment in Canada.

The challenge of pollution and health in Canada.

The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, which conducted a comprehensive assessment of the health and economic impacts of key forms of toxic pollutants in air, water, and soil, estimated that 9 million people die annually from the impact of pollution, which represents 16% of all deaths worldwide. Over 90% of these pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. While Canada ranks seventh lowest in the world, the burden is still too high; many pollutants were not considered in the Commission's work, and vulnerable populations-including the poor, women, children, and Indigenous peoples-are disproportionally affected by pollution in Canada. As Canadian co-authors in the Lancet Commission, here we consider the impact of pollution on the health of Canadians and discuss how best to address the problem.

Population Attributable Risk and Projected Population Impact Fractions for Lung Cancer and Outdoor Air Pollution in Canada

Introduction: Outdoor air pollution is classified as a carcinogen by IARC primarily on the basis of a relationship between PM2.5 and NO2 and lung cancer risk. This study evaluates the population at...

Prevalence of Lung Function Abnormalities Following the Fort McMurray Wildfires

Air pollution contributes significant to the burden of respiratory diseases. Vehicular, industrial and increasingly, wildfire emissions are major sources of air pollution in Canada. Increased symptoms, hospitalizations and mortality immediately after wildfires are known; the long-term health impact have not been studied. The devastating 2016 Fort McMurray (FMM) wildfires forced the months-long evacuation of the entire town and destroyed many homes. Most residents returned several months later, chosing to stay and rebuild. The long-term health impact of wildfires, and the ongoing exposure to resuspended residual wildfire ash are not known. Our study aims to assess the long-term impact on lung health in the permanent residents of FMM.We report on the health status of the first 45 participants (26F, 19M; mean age=45±2 yrs, range 21-71 yrs) at 18 months after the onset of the fires. Target enrolment is 200 with follow-up of at least 5 years. All 45 are permanent residents (mean residency=16±12; range 3-46 yrs). 13 worked in the oils sands; 5 are current smokers and 18 ex-smokers. Spirometry revealed a higher than expected prevalence of airflow obstruction; 11% had an FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 sec)/FVC (forced vital capacity) ratio <lower limit of normal (LLN). This was similar regardless of occupational exposures and smoking history; of the 22 never-smokers, 3 had FEV1/FVC<LLN, while 4 had FEV1/FVC<72.5%. 31% reported intermittent cough±sputum. Two had childhood asthma; only one is treated with inhaled steroids. One participant had COPD, treated with inhaled bronchodilators. The cohort was generally healthy with only 4 participants reporting underlying medical diseases other than lung disease. They were, however, obese with mean BMI=31±l.Our preliminary analyses found a higher than anticipated burden of unrecognized lung disease. Development of disease in this generally healthy young population will have significant social and public health impact in Canada.

Estimated public health impacts of changes in concentrations of fine particle air pollution in Canada, 2000 to 2011.

To estimate the public health impacts of changes in fine particle air pollution in Canada between 2000 and 2011, employing nationally comprehensive exposure estimates and quantifying the impacts on life expectancy, mortality and morbidity. We employed spatially comprehensive exposure estimates derived from satellite remote sensing to estimate the effects of actual observed changes in concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM), of median aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (i.e., PM2.5), from 2000 to 2011. We estimated changes in life expectancy using standard life table methods and changes in frequency of health outcomes as the product of population, baseline rate of the health outcome and the proportional change in health outcome per specified change in PM2.5 concentration. A population weighted average decrease in PM2.5 of nearly 25% (2.0 μg/m³) was observed between 2000 and 2011. This was estimated to result in a national population weighted average increase in life expectancy of 0.10 years (95% confidence interval 0.03-0.23; up to 0.34 years in specific census divisions) and reductions in the frequency of mortality and morbidity of up to 3.6%. Increases in PM2.5 up to 3.5 μg/m³ were observed in some census divisions, particularly in the prairies. At the national level, changes in PM2.5 concentrations between 2000 and 2011 were associated with an estimated improvement in national population weighted average life expectancy and a net reduction in mortality and morbidity. Areas that failed to improve or that worsened during this period warrant additional scrutiny to identify options for reducing PM2.5 concentrations.

Exposure to ambient air pollution in Canada and the risk of adult leukemia

There is a paucity of studies investigating adult leukemia and air pollution. To address this gap, we analyzed data from a Canadian population-based case–control study conducted in 1994–1997. Cases were 1064 adults with incident leukemia and controls were 5039 healthy adults. We used data from satellites and fixed-site monitoring stations to estimate residential concentrations of NO2 and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the period prior to diagnosis, starting in 1975 and ending in 1994. We modeled the average annual exposure of each subject. Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression, adjusted for age, gender, province, smoking, education, body mass index, income, and self-reported exposures to ionizing radiation and benzene. We found an ‘n-shaped’ response function between exposure to NO2 and all forms of leukemia: from the tenth percentile to the median (4.51 to 14.66ppb), the OR was 1.20; 95% CI: 0.97–1.48 and from the 75th percentile to the 90th (22.75 to 29.7ppb), the OR was 0.79; 95% CI 0.68–0.93. For PM2.5 we found a response function consistent with a linear model, with an OR per 10μg/m3 of 0.97 (95% CI 0.75–1.26). For chronic lymphocytic leukemia we found response functions that were consistent with a simple linear model, with an OR per 5ppb of NO2 of 0.93 (95% CI 0.86–1.00) and an OR per 10μg/m3 of PM2.5 of 0.62 (95% CI 0.42–0.93). In summary, for chronic lymphocytic leukemia we found no evidence of an association with air pollution and with all forms of leukemia we found weak evidence of an association only at low concentrations of NO2. It is possible that these inconsistent results may have arisen because of unaccounted urban/rural differences or possibly from a selection effect, especially among controls.

Clearing the Air? Information Disclosure, Systems of Power, and the National Pollution Release Inventory

The establishment of the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) in 1992 marked the emergence of a new approach to the regulation of industrial pollution in Canada. In contradistinction to the traditional permit-based model of regulation, the NPRI sets no mandatory discharge limits, instead requiring facilities to track their releases of pollutants and report them to a publically-accessible national database. Through its grounding of regulation in the interplay of social actors interacting across the public/private divide, the NPRI exemplifies a new governance technique of environmental regulation, a characterization I examine through a series of analytical lenses. The mining industry offers an informative narrative, and I contend that the relationship between mining activity and the NPRI illustrates well the risks of failing to attend to the extant distribution of power within the social dynamic that informational regulatory mechanisms seek to harness. I end by offering some recommendations for how the NPRI might be improved in light of these considerations.

Traffic-related air pollution and health in Canada

Canadian cities generally have good air quality; however, exposure to outdoor air pollution continues to elicit considerable negative health effects. Estimates suggest that there are 21 000 premature deaths attributable to air pollution in Canada each year,[1][1] nearly 9 times higher than the

Modeling the effects of agricultural BMPs on sediments, nutrients, and water quality of the Beaurivage River watershed (Quebec, Canada)

Agriculture has evolved into the largest non-point source of surface water pollution in Canada as a result of intensification over the past forty years. The Canadian WEBs project (Watershed Evaluation of Beneficial Management Practices, BMPs) was launched to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of BMPs as a means to mitigate agricultural sediment and nutrient issues. In this paper, the Gestion Intégrée des Bassins versant à l’aide d’un Système Informatisé (GIBSI) (or Integrated Watershed Management using a Computer System) integrated modeling framework was used to evaluate the effects of different BMPs on sediment and nutrient yields, as well as water quality in the Beaurivage River watershed in the province of Quebec. A reference scenario was developed that describes the current situation (i.e., base case scenario) of the watershed by calibrating the models used within GIBSI, namely HYDROTEL for hydrology, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) for soil erosion, the Erosion-the Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC) of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for contaminant transport and fate, and QUAL2E for stream water quality. The effects of four BMPs were studied: (1) vegetated riparian buffer strips, (2) precision slurry application, (3) grassland conversion of cereal and corn fields, and (4) no-till (on corn fields). Simulation results indicate that BMPs can be effective in reducing nutrient and suspended sediment loads in both surface runoff and stream flow. More specifically, buffer strip and crop rotation showed better efficiency than hog-slurry management and no-till on corn BMPs. Moreover, results highlight the need for further investigation of sediment dynamics in the stream network as well as in the riparian buffer strips.

Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Mortality: Design Features of a New Cohort Study of Ontario Adults

ISEE-0159 Background and Methods: This presentation outlines the design features of a new population-based retrospective cohort that we have assembled to investigate the relationship between long-term exposures to ambient air pollution and mortality and cancer outcomes. Methods: Individuals were randomly selected from the T1FF database which contains records of all income tax returns filed by Canadians. Eligible cohort members were resident in one of 10 urban areas in the province of Ontario between 1982 and 1986. Vital status was ascertained by record linkage to the Canadian Mortality Data Base. Internal linkage within the income tax database allowed for the determination of place of residence on a year-by-year basis up to December 31, 2004. Air pollution data are being assigned to place of residence data using a variety of methods that include: fixed-site monitoring, satellite imaging, roadway and traffic densities, and land use regression estimates. Results: The cohort is comprised of 646,005 individuals (325,636 men and 320,369 women). The mean age of participants at baseline was 51.6 years (range 35–84). In total, 195,014 deaths were observed among cohort members. Non-malignant respiratory disease, ischemic heart disease and lung cancer accounted for 15,526, 41,791 and 16,688 of the total deaths, respectively. Conclusion: The population-based nature of this study, the ability to track air pollution exposures over a lengthy interval, and the availability of socio-demographic data at an individual and ecological level will be used to characterize health risks of ambient air pollution. To date, there has been no large scale longitudinal investigation of ambient air pollution in Canada.

Fortuitous Consequence: The Domestic Politics of the 1991 Canada‐United States Agreement on Air Quality

Following more than a decade of negotiations, the Canada‐United States Agreement on Air Quality entered into force on March 13, 1991, with the signatures of then‐Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and US. President George Bush. Why was it so difficult for Canadian and US. negotiators to reach agreement? I argue that Canadian and U.S. domestic politics were the primary impediments to resolving the U.S.‐Canada acid rain dispute. This article thus casts the dispute in terms of a pair of domestic environmental policy problems, whose timely and complementary solution, furthermore, required executive initiative as the handmaiden of ecological crisis. Heightened public concern about the threat of acidic air pollution in Canada prompted Mulroney's efforts to reduce acid rain. In the United States, a likewise critical change in the public's perception of air quality as a national emergency created the mass support necessary for Bush's federal acid rain control initiative

Health Effects of Air Pollution in Canada: Expert Panel Findings for The Canadian Smog Advisory Program

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence on health effects of air pollution for the Canadian Smog Advisory Program.METHODS: Evidence was reviewed by two expert panels, who were asked to define the health effects expected at levels of exposure given by the National Ambient Air Quality Objectives, to examine a variety of issues related to communicating with the public about environmental health risks, and to draft health messages for the advisory program.RESULTS: The panels concluded that health effects of ground-level ozone at levels that occur in Canada include pulmonary inflammation, pulmonary function decrements, airway hyperreactivity, respiratory symptoms, possible increased medication use and physician/emergency room visits among individuals with heart or lung disease, reduced exercise capacity, increased hospital admissions and possible increased mortality. Similar effects were felt to occur in association with airborne particles, with the exception of inflammatory changes, and with the addition of increased school absenteeism. Poor data on individual exposure were identified as a limitation of studies on hospital admissions and mortality.RECOMMENDATIONS: The panels identified the need to reflect the evidence accurately without unduly raising public concern and recommended that advisory health messages identify expected health effects, while health care providers could more appropriately recommend protective actions to individuals. Supplementary educational strategies and evaluation of the advisory program were also recommended.

A Black (and Rising?) Tide: Controlling Maritime Oil Pollution in Canada

A Black (and Rising?) Tide: Controlling Maritime Oil Pollution in Canada

A Review of Remedial Measures for Groundwater Pollution in Canada

Abstract An overview of groundwater contamination and remedial measures undertaken in Canada is presented. Information drawn from a consultant’s report to Environment Canada has been briefly summarized. It is noteworthy that at the majority of the 173 sites identified, substantive remedial actions have been undertaken. In addition, two case histories where remedial actions are currently underway are highlighted.