Grant: Knowledge Synthesis Grant

Estimates suggest between $3.6 billion to $9.1 billion in health costs are associated with Canadians' exposures to environmental pollutants. First Nations people may be particularly vulnerable to environmental exposures due to geographic location and higher consumption rates of wildlife and locally harvested foods. There are many existing datasets on pollutant sources and concentrations in Canada, but these reside in a wide range of locations and have never been presented in a single, synthesized way for First Nations communities in Canada. Such a synthesis would serve to identify communities with higher risk of exposures to toxic pollutants (single and multiple), and thereby aid in developing policy and practice related to reducing exposure risks and improving health in the long-term. This project will develop a geographic information system to synthesize existing environmental data and the inherent spatial information by producing indicators of exposure for all First Nations communities in Canada. The results will be made available as a comprehensive report as well as via an online mapping application.