Study Suggests New Air Quality Rules Would Save Lives
Posted August 25, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Improving air quality standards in Canada could help save thousands of lives, according to a new study.
The David Suzuki Foundation report suggests Canada is lagging behind Australia, Europe, and even its neighbours to the south when it comes to protecting its citizens from air pollution.
“For sulphur dioxide Canada allows 115 parts per billion, the European Union, 48, Australia, 80,” said David Boyd, the report’s author. Canada is also well behind the U.S., the report contends.
The study figures there are anywhere from 5,900 to 16,000 preventable premature deaths attributable to poor air quality here. It calls for stricter targets for reducing pollution and a national tax on polluters.
“There are literally thousands of Canadians who die each year from premature deaths because of air pollution and then there are thousands more who have to be hospitalized,” Boyd said.
“And then there are millions of people who suffer from asthma, who have to restrict their activities on some days because of smog warnings.”
He’s hoping the Conservative government will bring in national air quality standards as part of its new clean air legislation, due to be introduced this fall.
Boyd argues the rules would result in enormous health benefits for Canadians because they’d force industry, municipalities, and provinces to cut air pollution.
