Canada Launches Air Quality Health Index

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Canada Launches Air Quality Health Index

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=76358

Canada's new government and the state government of Ontario

yesterday announced they were establishing the world's first

National Air Quality Health Index *(AQHI) with the launch of an 18-

month pilot programme in Toronto. The programme will receive an

investment of 30 million dollars and will serve as a model for

rolling out to the rest of the country.

The AQHI gives a number between 1 and 10 (and occasionally may show

as 10+) that rates air quality according to risk to health.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 800,000 people die

worldwide (1.4 per cent of all deaths) because of urban outdoor air

pollution. In Canada, 5,900 deaths a year are linked to urban air

pollution in 8 Canadian cities, and scientists suspect that poor air

quality is also linked to thousands of Canadians being admitted to

hospital every year.

The AQHI pilot was announced in Toronto by Baird, Minister of

the Environment and Tony Clement, Minister of Health together with

representatives of Toronto Public Health.

Speaking on CTV Newsnet yesterday, Health Minister Clement said that

the AQHI is:

" Basically a tool that people can use to ensure that they know the

health impacts on a particular day of the amount of pollutants in

the air. "

Environment Minister Baird said in a prepared statement that:

" We promised Canadians we would clean up the air we breathe and

improve our health. "

" Our investment in this personal health protection tool will provide

Canadians with current and forecasted local air quality information

that they can use to take actions to reduce risks posed by air

pollution, " he added.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Toronto's Medical Officer

of Health, Dr McKeown said that:

" Air quality affects different people in different ways. Healthy

individuals may not notice poor air quality when it happens, where

as those with particularly severe breathing and heart problems can

be very sensitive to bad air. "

Canada's AQHI is the world's first index to show the health risks

associated with the mix of pollutants present in air and to give

health advice to reduce the risk.

" Air pollution has been linked to illness and death and particularly

impacts our children, our elderly and people with heart and lung

disease, " said Minister Clement.

The federal funding of 30 million dollars will be spread over the

next four years to roll out the AQHI to medium and large communities

across the country. Municipal and provincial partnerships will be

key to the program's success say the government.

The Toronto pilot project is based on successful pilots in Nova

Scotia and British Columbia. Over the coming years, Environment

Canada will improve its air quality forecasting capacity across the

country.

The AQHI is one of a series of measure the new government of Canada

has pledged to introduce to fight air pollution. In April it

launched Turning the Corner: An Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse

Gases and Air Pollution under which industry will be required to

halve air pollution by 2015.

Depending on how long you are exposed to air pollution, and how

healthy you are, your genetic background and the quality of the air,

air pollution can make it harder to breathe, irritates your eyes

nose and throat, and worsens conditions like bronchitis, emphysema

and asthma. It can also cause heart attacks, hear failure and other

heart problems because the blood vessels can become constricted,

heart rhythms change and blood clots can form.

The AQHI describes the level of health risk by showing a number and

an associated health risk range: 1 to 3 is " Low health risk " , 4 to 6

is " Moderate health risk " , 7 to 10 is " High health risk " and 10+

is " Very high health risk " .

The Index will also suggest steps that people can take to reduce

their exposure. As well as giving the current air quality

information the AQHI will give a daily forecast.

The AQHI is a measure of the health risks from pollutants; it does

not give a measure of the health effects of odour, dust, heat or

humidity.

It is a measure of the combined risk posed by a number of common air

pollutants which are known to be harmful. These include Ozone (O3)

at ground level, particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10) and nitrogen

dioxide (NO2).

The plan is that as the AQHI is rolled out across the country,

Canadians will be able to check their local index, for instance on a

website, and take air pollution into account when they plan their

day and decide how much to work or exercise outdoors.

Critics of the government say that it's all well and good measuring

the air quality, but where is the action to reduce air pollution?

Speaking to CTV yesterday, Franz Hartmann of the Toronto

Environmental Alliance said:

" They have a tool to gauge the problem, but nothing, no new

announcement today about how to actually clean the air. "

Click here for a Fact Sheet about the AQHI including what you should

do for different levels of air pollution.

Click here for more information on the Toronto Pilot of the AQHI.

Written by: Catharine Paddock

Writer: Medical News Today