Quebec doctors say smog episodes accumulate and have long-term health effects

The air quality index has been poor for several days in Quebec, and although the situation improved on Wednesday, adverse health effects may persist in the long term. The Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME) believes that decision-makers are underestimating the impact of air pollution.

As of Tuesday morning, Montreal and Quebec City were among the 10 cities in the world with the most polluted air, according to the IQAir ranking. This is caused in part by westerly winds carrying smoke from wildfires in the Prairies and northern Ontario.

Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, President of the AQME, warns of the impacts of being exposed to fine particle levels in the air that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

“We’re exposing ourselves to the risk of issues affecting almost every organ in our body, including our brain. So, we have more premature dementia, early mortality, pulmonary issues, cardiac issues, we can have kidney problems, and there are impacts on the health of women and babies. There isn’t really a single system in the body that is spared from air pollution,” warns the doctor.

Dr. Pétrin-Desrosiers believes that decision-makers in Quebec underestimate the challenges of air quality because, in her opinion, they aren’t doing enough to control polluting companies.

“We have the impression that it’s far away, that it affects people in China or India, but both realities exist. It affects people elsewhere in the world, but it affects us here. If it takes smog episodes, where we’re currently experiencing the worst air quality in the world, to make us realize that we’re not immune to these impacts, I hope it can only generate conversations and, of course, stricter regulations to address these issues because we need government regulations, we need to set industry standards, we need to maintain constant monitoring, and we need to be able to communicate these risks,” argues Dr. Pétrin-Desrosiers.

More pollution, more premature deaths

When air quality is poor, young and relatively healthy people will experience minor health effects, such as itchy eyes or a scratchy throat. People with heart or lung problems should be extra careful, as they are more prone to developing complications. Scientific literature shows that when there’s more air pollution, there are more deaths from heart disease and stroke, and more people have respiratory problems and need to go to the hospital. Furthermore, regular exposure to high levels of air pollution can increase the risk of certain types of cancer.

“It’s a concerning health issue because exposure is somewhat involuntary; we don’t really have a choice but to breathe. And when there are episodes where there’s an increased concentration of polluting particles in the atmosphere, it can have harmful short- and long-term effects on the body,” explains Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers.

In Quebec, air pollution causes 4,000 premature deaths per year, according to a 2021 Health Canada report. This generates costs of more than $30 billion per year for the Quebec healthcare system, the document states.

“This is significant,” comments Dr. Pétrin-Desrosiers. “And part of that is linked, in particular, to smog episodes caused by forest fire smoke, but it’s also generally due to the fact that we have air quality standards that are less stringent than those recommended by the World Health Organization, particularly for fine particles.”

To protect yourself as best you can, during smog episodes, you should avoid activities requiring high cardio-respiratory energy, such as physical exercise or vigorous activity, as much as possible. Overall, we should limit our time spent outdoors and stay as much as possible in environments where there is some indoor control over air quality. When staying home, we suggest closing windows.

If worn properly and fitted to the face, the N95 mask can also help, particularly for people with asthma or other chronic conditions.

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–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews