Health risks from acid rain: a Canadian perspective.

Abstract

Acidic deposition, commonly referred to as acid rain, is causing serious environmental damage in eastern Canada. The revenues from forest products, tourism and sport fishing are estimated to account for about 8% of the gross national product. The impact on human health is not as clearcut and a multi-department program on the Long-Range Transport of Airborne Pollutants (LRTAP) was approved by the federal government in June 1980. The objectives of the LRTAP program are to reduce wet sulfate deposition to less than 20 kg/ha per year in order to protect moderately sensitive areas. This will require a 50% reduction in Canadian SO2 emissions east of the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border and concomitant reductions in the eastern U.S.A. The objectives of the health sector of the program are to assess the risk to health posed by airborne pollutants which are subjected to long-range transport and to monitor the influence of abatement programs.Two major epidemiology studies were undertaken in 1983, one in which the health effects related to acute exposure to transported air pollutants were studied in asthmatic and nonasthmatic children, and another in which the effects of chronic exposure to these pollutants were studied in school children living in towns with high and low levels of pollutants. Preliminary analysis of the data do not indicate major health effects, but definitive conclusions must await final analysis. Studies on the indirect effects of acid deposition on water quality have shown that acidified lake water left standing in the plumbing system can adversely affect water quality and that federally set guidelines for copper and lead are exceeded. Flushing of the system before using the water rectifies the situation. Additional studies are planned to further delineate the magnitude of the health effects of acidified lake water.

Developing Asthma in Childhood from Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke: Insights from a Meta-Regression

“…Thirty-eight articles reported at least one risk estimate that met our inclusion criteria ( Tables 2 – 4 ). Twelve articles [ Aberg et al 1995 ; Aberkane 1998 ; Al-Frayh et al 1992 ; Bener et al 1993a , 1993b ; Bergmann et al 1998 ; Franklin et al 1985 ; Luttmann et al 1993 ; Moussa et al 1996 ; Medical Research Council (MRC) 1966 , 1986 ; Ronmark et al 1999 ] and the Abacci Atlas website ( Shank 2000 ; http://www.abacci.com/atlas/demography.asp?countryID=352 ) provided information on additional characteristics about the study design or population associated with 10 of these studies. We rejected 248 articles; in cases where there were multiple reasons for exclusion, we have reported only one (see Figure 1 for details).…”

Studies of Acid Aerosols in Six Cities and in a New Multi-City Investigation: Design Issues

“…Given that the magnitude of the passive smoking effect in children is in the range of 1% for the age group we will be studying (20) and the fact that colleagues from Canada were able to detect a 2% difference in lung function level between two groups of five communities (21), we believe that the power to detect significant difference in lung function is both sufficient and potentially of biologic importance. In each site we anticipate seeing more than 700 children to have approximately 600 lifelong residents of the community in the study.…”