Technology - POLLUTION

The Toronto Star Health Story

Smog kills 1,000 annually in Toronto, study shows Thousands more treated in hospital for illnesses linked to pollutants

By Phinjo Gombu, Toronto Star Staff Reporter

About 1,000 people die each year from smog in Toronto and 71 per cent of the deaths are caused by two pollutants linked to emissions, a new study by the Toronto public health department shows.

The study also found that about 5,500 people are admitted to hospitals across the city each year with smog-related illnesses.

``Premature deaths from air pollution are very significant compared to other leading causes of death in the city,'' Monica Campbell, a toxicologist with Toronto public health and one of the authors of the 40-page study, said last night.

Campbell said that, by comparison, there were 3,160 deaths due to heart attacks in 1995 - the year covered by the study - 1,347 deaths due to stroke, 1,048 deaths due to lung cancer, 432 deaths due to breast cancer, 414 deaths due to AIDS and two deaths from tuberculosis in the City of Toronto.

The two pollutants identified by the study as the main culprits behind premature deaths were nitrogen dioxide (38 per cent) and carbon monoxide (33 per cent).

Councillor Jack Layton, who chairs the city's environmental task force, said the results of the study are a wake-up call for a concerted effort to deal with air pollution levels and increase public transit.

``This is a huge and rapidly growing crisis affecting the most vulnerable people, our children and our seniors,'' Layton said.

The study didn't break down the illnesses exacerbated by smog - or the age groups of those affected - but Campbell said they ranged from heart failure to pneumonia and heart disease.

``We were surprised in our study with how significant nitrogen dioxide was in contributing to poor health. It really identifies the transportation sector as a key area to reduce emissions.''

Other leading causes of death were from pollutants called particulates, which are described as microscopic particles that people breath in. They accounted for 17 per cent of deaths and are caused primarily by pollutants released by fuel combustion for heating purposes and industrial sources such as power plants.

Next on the list were sulphur dioxide and sulphates released from industrial sources and coal-powered plants, such as the provincially owned Lakeview generating plant in Mississauga and similar plants in the U.S.

The study found ozone caused only 5 per cent of smog-related deaths in the city.

Campbell said the study, which took a year to complete, was led by Dr. David Pengelly, a scientist with McMaster University and the University of Toronto.

Campbell said the team used a ``highly defensible'' methodology for the study: an internationally recognized mathematical relationship between pollution levels and health outcomes.

After the six pollutants were identified, the team combed through detailed provincial medical records of deaths in Toronto in 1995.

Campbell said numbers from that base year hold for today because pollution levels have not changed much in the city.

The team's confidence in its calculations is such that it feels the current provincial estimates of 1,800 smog-related deaths across Ontario each year can easily be doubled, Campbell said.

``There are a thousand people dying each year and that is the equivalent of four international jets crashing each year in our city.''

The study said that contrary to popular belief, poor air quality is not only a summertime health concern because the six pollutants are in the air all year.

In fact, three of the pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide - are present in higher levels in winter than in the summer. These three account for 80 per cent of all air pollution-related deaths in the city.

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