Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects

Epidemiological studies that juxtapose high quality information on health with that of exposures to ambient air pollutants have shown that air pollution adversely affects human health. It is now clear that there are health impairments at very low levels of air pollution. An improved understanding of these effects requires very large studies that are capable of characterizing ambient exposures at small spatial scales. These studies are needed to make appropriate public health actions. Indeed, the Canadian government is considering developing annual ambient air pollution standards to address health effects from long-term exposures (annual to multi-year). There has been reluctance to develop these, owing partly to a lack of Canadian evidence of these effects, but also due to a lack of high quality studies that link chronic diseases, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases, with levels of exposure at relatively small spatial scales. Traditional observations from fixed-site monitoring stations, which are used mainly for the purposes of ensuring compliance to regulations, provide only sparse coverage of the country. In this proposal, we will develop technologies to assess the health impacts from long term exposure to air pollution throughout Canada by 1) exploiting recent advances in satellite observations and modeling to produce a complete national characterization of outdoor air pollutant exposures (i.e. PM2.5 and O3); 2) linking these exposures with two large Canadian population cohorts to quantify the impact of long term air pollutant exposure on important adverse health outcomes (i.e., mortality, cancer); and 3) applying this information to contribute to science-based ambient air quality regulations and decision making. These research activities would constitute an important body of evidence as to whether annual average standards should be developed in Canada.