On Clean Air Day, event with French Ambassador to Canada highlights pollution exposures as part of the global One Health agenda

OTTAWA | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHINAABEG PEOPLE – Today is Canada’s Clean Air Day, and leading health and environmental organizations are joining the French Ambassador to Canada, His Excellency Michel Miraillet, to highlight pollution as a major global One Health challenge and identify solutions.

France convened a global One Health Summit earlier this year, in Lyon. Exposure to pollution was one of four focus themes. Among other recommendations, the summit’s scientific conference noted that chemical, plastic and biological pollution, “has interconnected effects on humans, animals, plants, ecosystems, food systems and therefore requires integrated action.”

Canadian health and environmental leaders say Canada must step up action to reduce exposures to toxic pollution and better protect the health of people and the planet.

In Canada, air pollution alone contributes to around 17,400 deaths each year and the annual cost of health impacts is estimated at $146 billion, according to Health Canada.

His Excellency Michel Miraillet, French Ambassador to Canada, said:
“For over 20 years, France has been a pioneer in environmental health policies. Yet, French citizens remain exposed to numerous pollutants found in our environment, ecosystems, and living organisms. Tackling pollution and its health impacts requires a systemic approach: comprehensive environmental monitoring, identifying and reducing emission sources, improving knowledge on exposure and health impacts, and making environmental data publicly accessible to ensure greater transparency.

“The One Health approach is critical to addressing these complex challenges. France placed this ambition at the heart of the One Health Summit in Lyon last April, gathering leaders and ministers from around the world. The summit resulted in significant commitments to combat pollution and promote planetary health. France is committed to advancing this objective at the national, European, and international levels.”

Naoual Laaroussi, Communications and Partnerships Coordinator at Breast Cancer Action Quebec, said:
“Our bodies and our environment are inseparable, and breast cancer prevention requires addressing toxic exposures at their source. On Clean Air Day, we highlight the essential role of pollution and environmental injustice within the One Health approach and the importance of confronting these issues. Indigenous, racialized and low-income communities are disproportionately exposed to harmful pollutants, with direct impacts on health, including breast cancer. We must strengthen environmental protections to protect our bodies, our communities, and future generations.”

Dr. Émilie Tremblay, President at Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, said:
“The health of Canadians is increasingly at risk due to climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and other environmental degradation. Nurses have unique leadership skills to address these challenges and protect the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. By using approaches that recognize the interconnectedness of human and environmental health, nurses play a critical role in responding to environmental changes.”

Dr. Helen Hsu, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said:
“Pollution in Canada is systemic, chronic, preventable, and consequential, and climate change makes the problem worse. It not only creates new environmental risks, it also releases and spreads existing toxic pollutants. Reducing harmful exposures is one of the greatest public health opportunities before us. The health of the planet, animals, and humans are inextricably connected. We all depend on clean air, safe water, and healthy food free from harmful pollutants. Yet pollution exposures are increasingly widespread, with microplastics and toxic chemicals now found in remote ecosystems and even in the human body, including the placenta. The health impacts linked to these exposures range from cardiovascular disease and infertility to cancers and neurological harms. Prevention through effective policy is our most impactful public health strategy and our most economically responsible choice.
There is no economic prosperity without health, and there is no health without a healthy environment.”

Sarah Butson, CEO at the Canadian Lung Association, said:
“From a lung health perspective, climate change, extreme weather and increased traffic-related air pollution are leading to a definite increase in chronic lung disease, particularly among marginalized populations. But this is so much more than a “lung health” issue; this is about the health of our entire population and our planet. The need for action, both protective and preventative, is more urgent than ever.”

Dr. Bolu Ogunyemi, President, Canadian Medical Association, said:
“The federal government has acknowledged the serious toll pollution takes on our health and on our health system. What’s needed now is action to strengthen protections so people across Canada can benefit from cleaner air and healthier communities.”

Dr. Kimberly LeBlanc, RN, President, Canadian Nurses Association, said:
“Nurses understand the protection and well-being of the planet is intrinsically connected to the health of our communities. Humans cannot thrive without nature and nature cannot thrive without humans actively reducing pollution. A One Health approach is necessary to finding sustainable solutions for all life.”

Marie Adèle Davis, Executive Director, Canadian Paediatric Society, said:
“Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to the effects of toxic pollution due to their rapid development and greater lifetime exposure. A national equity-focused and child-centred approach is essential to the future wellbeing of our youth and the environments they live, learn, and play in.”

Ian Culbert, Executive Director, Canadian Public Health Association, said:
“Clean air, safe water, healthy ecosystems, and effective public health protections are inseparable. Pollution is not only an environmental issue; it is a major public health challenge that contributes to preventable illness, death, and health system costs. A One Health approach reminds us that the health of people, animals, and ecosystems is deeply connected. Canada has an opportunity, and a responsibility, to strengthen prevention by reducing toxic exposures at their source, protecting communities that face disproportionate burdens, and ensuring that environmental policy is guided by the best available evidence and the public interest.”

Pierre Iachetti, Executive Director at the David Suzuki Foundation, said:
“Two years after Canada recognized the right to a healthy environment in federal law, people are still waiting to see that right meaningfully protected. Indigenous, racialized and low-income communities continue to face disproportionate exposure to toxic pollution and environmental harm. On Clean Air Day, we’re calling on the federal government to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities by strengthening environmental protections and reducing pollution. The right to a healthy environment must exist not just in law, but in people’s daily lives.”

Kimberly Shearon, Executive Director at Ecojustice, said:
“Our health depends directly on the strength of the laws that protect our air, water and food. Canada’s plans to gut those laws threatens the health and well-being of all Canadians. Weakened pesticide safety evaluations and climate policy will expose us to more toxics in our food and worsened air pollution from wildfires and fossil fuel pollution. On Clean Air Day, we urge the federal government to reconsider the dangerous path it is sending Canada down.”

Tim Gray, Executive Director at Environmental Defence, said:
“Our health relies on a healthy planet. The damage toxic pollution does to ecosystems, animals and the climate threatens our wellbeing and future generations. France and the European Union are moving quickly on toxic chemicals such as PFAS, and this is the time to bring in stronger rules for polluters if Canada wants to demonstrate leadership and trade readiness on the world stage.”

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A Clean Air Day event at the French Embassy in Canada this evening will profile Canadian and international perspectives on tackling pollution exposure. For more information about participating organizations, please visit their web sites:

Background:

  • The One Health approach brings together global human health, animal health, and ecosystem health expertise to tackle the systemic threats to resilient planetary systems, which includes the role of pollution in driving exposure-related morbidity and mortality in humans, animals and ecosystems.
  • According to the United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur, “Over 1 million low-income Canadians live within 1 km of a major source of industrialized pollution, resulting in elevated risks of hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.” Pollution exposure does not affect everyone equally. Indigenous, racialized, low-income and frontline communities are often disproportionately exposed to harmful pollutants and face greater cumulative health burdens.

 

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Cyrielle Maison, David Suzuki Foundation, cmaison@davidsuzuki.org

Venetia Jones, Ecojustice, vjones@ecojustice.ca