A new study finds Canadians who are exposed to even small amounts of air pollution face higher death rates.
The study, published in Health Effects Institute report, is a collaboration between Statistics Canada and several Canadian universities.
It is described as the largest and most comprehensive Canadian study examining links between air pollution and rates of mortality.
Lauren Pinault, a senior research analyst with Statistics Canada, said the objective was to see if there might be a safe level of air pollution.
“We’re really not seeing evidence of any lower threshold, so there’s no minimum value that we would consider safe based on the findings that we have,” said Pinault.
Researchers cross-referenced air pollution data with anonymous Statistics Canada census information of around nine-million Canadians.
The study found there is at least a five per cent increase in the risk of deaths of Canadians when comparing high- and low-pollution areas.
It is a concerning figure, according to researchers, since millions of Canadians live in high-pollution areas.
Despite Canada being one of the few countries that meets World Health Organization air quality guidelines as well as national guidelines, the study suggests air pollution at any concentration is hurting Canadians and the world population.
“What’s really useful about this is that Canada is a really great case study for the rest of the world in terms of the fact that even when we have really low levels of air pollution, we still see some health effects from that,” said Pinault.
Pinault says the second phase of the study, which will likely be released in late 2020, will look at the relationship between air pollution and specific causes of death.
It will also evaluate whether moving from an area of poor air quality to an area of cleaner air quality reduces the risk of dying.
Researchers from the University of New Brunswick, Dalhousie University, McGill University, and the University of British Columbia were involved with the study.
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