Death by Air Pollution is Soaring
2008Barry Weisleder 2008-09The page as the paper published it (Wayback Machine) →
From the paper's own web edition, recovered from the Internet Archive: the text as the paper put it online, not machine-read. The printed issue of September 2008 is not held.
by Barry Weisleder / September 2008
A major medical report warns that the number of deaths related to air pollution is set to soar in the coming decades, with a cumulative death toll of 800,000 Canadians by 2031.
A study released on Aug. 13 by the Canadian Medical Association says smog will also drain billions of dollars from Canada's economy and health-care system in medical costs and lost productivity. The vast majority of smog-related deaths will be seniors aged 65 years and older because they are more vulnerable to heart problems, the report says.
CMA president Brian Day says the number of people in that vulnerable group will grow as the population ages. "We have a very high percentage of baby boomers who will hit 65 in the next three or four years and then keep hitting 65," he said.
Roughly 21,000 Canadians, mostly seniors, will die this year from a combination of short-and long-term exposure to air pollution, the report says. It forecasts the annual death toll will rise 83 per cent to 39,000 deaths a year by 2031. The majority are expected to die from heart and lung conditions caused by years of breathing dirty air.
However, the report says nearly 2700 people will die from short-term exposure this year—creeping up to 4900 people a year by 2031. The report estimates the economic cost of dirty air is $8 billion this year, accumulating to total more than $250 billion by 2031.
Day says these estimates are conservative since the study assumed air pollution will not increase above current levels. The American Medical Association said it does not keep figures on deaths caused by air pollution. Day explained that Canada is one of the first nations to track such deaths. Doing something about it is another story.