Your Health and a Changing Climate: Newsletter - Volume 3

Impacts and Adaptation Research : Ongoing Research

Montreal's C'est Chaud! Exercise

Following the 2003 heat wave in Europe that saw the premature death of over 15,000 people, the City of Montreal developed a heat wave response plan to enable the community to reach the most vulnerable populations and ensure public safety during a similar event. The response plan enhances Montreal's alert and notification system, encourages dissemination of education and outreach materials, and engages community stakeholders in extending services to vulnerable populations, such as longer hours for swimming pools and access to air conditioned shelters.

As part of the new research being undertaken for the Health Assessment 2007, Health Canada provided support to the Montreal Public Health Board for conducting a tabletop exercise to test the response plan. The exercise provided a better understanding of the effectiveness of the response plan and the capacity of the Montreal community to minimize health impacts related to heat events. Recommendations are anticipated that will provide input as to how effective heat response plans may be for other communities, and the utility of such exercises as a tool for understanding capacity. This project is intended to contribute to the adaptive capacity theme of the Health Assessment 2007.

For more information, contact Marielou Verge at marielou_verge@hc-sc.gc.ca

Early Warning Systems

Individual and community vulnerability is equally determined by the impact of an event and coping capacity. The Natural Hazards theme of the Health Assessment 2007 will undertake a review of risk management activities designed to minimize the impact of weather-related natural hazard events on the health of communities. In particular, the assessment will look at early warning systems as a tool to alert individuals to the potential dangers of a projected event, and thereby reduce damages and health impacts. The study will examine the rationale behind early warning systems, and how they are developed and implemented. Surveys and case studies will provide insight into the impact and effectiveness of these systems as they relate to community preparedness.

For more information, contact Peter Berry at peter_berry@hc-sc.gc.ca

Capacity of Atlantic Coastal Communities to Cope with and Adapt to Extreme Weather Events

Coastal regions in Canada are particularly vulnerable to an increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events brought on by climate change, due to a rising sea level in most regions. Storm surge activity along the Atlantic coast is costing governments and landowners large amounts in damages, and often results in widespread impacts on the well-being and health of the community.

Supported by funding from the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program (CCIAP) at Natural Resources Canada, Health Canada is leading an investigation into the capacity to respond to storm surge activity in two communities on the Atlantic Coast. Shediac-Cap-Pélé, New Brunswick and Channel-Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland have experienced storm surge activity in the past, and will participate in an assessment of their response to a simulated event, exacerbated by sea level rise. Using functional exercises, participants from federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as community representatives will address both the short and long-term implications of storm surge activity on the health and well-being of the community. This project will allow participants the opportunity to test their response plans and train responders, while providing insight into the factors that build and limit adaptation. Results will feed into the Adaptive Capacity theme of the Health Assessment 2007.

For more information, contact Marielou Verge at marielou_verge@hc-sc.gc.ca

Spatial Assessment of Forest Fire Smoke Exposure and its Health Effects in the Southern Interior of British Columbia

With financial support from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, British Columbia Lung Association, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Dr. Michael Brauer et al at University of British Columbia have been investigating the health effects of forest fire smoke exposure in southern interior BC.

The forested mountains and dry valleys that characterize southeastern British Columbia (BC) also render the region susceptible to summertime wildfire activity. During the unprecedented 2003 season more than 6900 fires burned in the southern interior destroying 343 homes, consuming 260 000 hectares of fuel, and exposing 640 000 residents to potentially harmful levels of smoke pollution. Forest fire smoke is composed of tiny, inhalable particles that can irritate the lungs and place stress on the entire cardiorespiratory system. Particles of this size are also found in vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, and high concentrations in urban centers have repeatedly been linked to increased risk of acute respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. But forest fires usually burn in remote, sparsely populated areas where air quality monitors are few and far between, which makes it challenging to assess whether smoke particles have health effects similar to their urban relatives. A few studies have used simple statistical methods to indicate this might be the case, but limited information on how much smoke the subjects were exposed to creates uncertainty in the strength of the relationship. Brauer's research uses more sophisticated exposure assessment and epidemiological methods to reduce this uncertainty. By combining meteorological, air quality and satellite data in a particle dispersion model they are generating estimates of daily smoke exposure for every southern interior resident between July 1st and September 30th, 2003. Those who were hospitalized for smoke-related illnesses during the same period will be identified using the BC Linked Health Database, and modern statistical methods will be used to quantify how risk of hospitalization is related to increasing particle concentrations. These study results have the potential to improve understanding of the health effects associated with forest fire smoke, and promote the importance of this issue in provincial, national and international forums on forestry management and health information policy. Incidence of forest fires is expected to increase with a changing climate.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael Brauer at michael.brauer@ubc.ca

Infiltration of Smoke to Indoor Home Environments During Forest Fires and Residential Wood Burning, and the Efficiency of Air Cleaners in Reducing Acute Health Effects

During the forest fire season, residents of communities may be affected by smoke generated from nearby fires as well as fires that may be hundreds of kilometers away. Airborne particles are present in outdoor air at elevated concentrations during forest fire events. High concentrations have been linked to increased respiratory health symptoms, especially in persons with pre-existing respiratory conditions.

While regional air quality monitoring stations measure outdoor concentrations of smoke, indoor levels are difficult to predict from this information and there has not been sufficient research carried out to know what is the appropriate advice to give to community residents regarding strategies to reduce exposure to smoke during forest fire periods. General health protection recommendations made to residents of these communities affected by smoke are based on limited information, but typically suggest staying indoors and using air cleaners. A similar situation occurs in winter in communities with residential wood combustion for home heating. Since there is little available information on the effectiveness of air cleaners in reducing indoor levels, Michael Brauer et al at UBC (with funding from the BC Centre for Disease Control) are conducting a study designed to investigate the penetration of outdoor airborne particles from forest fires and residential wood burning to indoor home environments, to determine the effectiveness of HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Air) air cleaners in reducing indoor particle .5 levels and to measure any association between indoor particle levels and acute respiratory health in individuals with pre-existing respiratory disease. Sampling was conducted in winter 2004 in communities affected by residential wood burning in Prince George, British Columbia and in the summers of 2004 & 2005 in communities affected by forest fire smoke in Southern BC.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael Brauer at michael.brauer@ubc.ca

Health Effects of Wood Stove Smoke

As Canada continues to take action to meet our commitments to the Kyoto Accord, more people may turn to heating their homes with wood if electricity prices go up. Dr. Judith Zelikoff, New York University School of Medicine, Department of Environmental Medicine, has been conducting research on the health effects of wood stove smoke. Wood stoves rank as the fourth most popular fuel for home heating in Canada, after gas, electricity and oil. Although low-emission wood stoves are available most homes have older stoves, and just over one-quarter of Canada's particulate air pollution comes from these stoves.

Wood stove smoke contains particulate matter, gases (such as formaldehyde, nitrogen and sulphur dioxides, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds) heavy metals and free radicals. People exposed to wood smoke can experience headaches, allergic symptoms, breathing difficulties, reduced lung function, exacerbation of respiratory conditions such as asthma, aggravation of heart disease, and possibly increased susceptibility to lower respiratory tract infections. People who are most susceptible to these health effects are young children, the elderly, people with chronic heart and lung illnesses, unborn children and people who are working or exercising hard in smoky environments.

Dr. Zelikoff's preliminary findings using laboratory rats exposed to wood smoke at levels comparable to homes with wood smoke exposures, found evidence that wood smoke reduced the ability of the rats to get rid of bacterial infections. Dr. Zelikoff's early results suggest that wood smoke reduces the ability of immune system cells to effectively kill the bacteria. This has implications as to why children who live in homes with wood stoves appear to have more respiratory infections.

For more information, contact Dr. Judith Zelikoff at judyz@env.med.nyu.edu

The Geo-simulation of West Nile Virus Infection on the Basis of Climate: A Tool for Risk Management in Public Health

Since 1999, the West Nile virus (WNV) has become a public health problem to manage. Its expansion has lead to surveillance systems being established in North America. These systems, however, cannot forecast the probable spread of the virus in the future. Researchers at Laval University are using the Multi-Agent Geo-Simulation approach to develop a system that can plausibly simulate the behaviours of mosquitoes and corvidae that are linked to the spread and transmission of WNV. This simulation is expected to take place in a virtual mapping environment representing a large territory (the province of Quebec) and according to various climate scenarios and larvicide treatments. A preliminary study carried out in 2004 determined the feasibility of the project. In fact, they were able to explain, from a global perspective, the indicator phenomena related to the WNV transmission. After establishing certain hypotheses, they were also able to develop a conceptual model that describes the population dynamics of the mosquito (genus Culex) and the common crow, which were the main actors in their simulation of the future, as well as their interaction. They are now in the second phase of the project which involves refining their system's architecture in order to proceed with its development over the coming months. An operational system will be available at the end of 2005.

For more information, contact Mondher Bouden at mondher.bouden@ift.ulaval.ca