A new report reveals that some contaminants in Toronto’s air are at dangerous levels, threatening our health. Dr. David McKeown, Toronto’s medical health officer, stresses the need for businesses to disclose what they release.
Indonesia has the highest number of active volcanoes in the world. Police confirmed the death of six teenagers during a camping trip due to toxic sulphur fumes from a volcano just outside Jakarta.
Alongside the launch of a new Air Quality Health Index is a right-to-know bylaw that forces Toronto businesses to reveal their polluting emissions.
This will make Toronto the first North American city that allows the public to know what they are breathing in and where the pollutants are coming from.
A survey conducted by China and the World Bank estimates that air and water pollution have caused about 460,000 premature deaths each year. Despite growing public concerns, the country has failed to meet its targets.
Cleanup from a punctured pipeline causing a crude oil contaminated neighbourhood in Burnaby, British Columbia continues. Officials warn that the cleanup efforts can take up to weeks. Even so, some question the air quality and health effects after that.
Aflatoxin, a toxic chemical, dangerous if consumed in large quantities, is found on maize, goundnuts, sorghum and cassava. Traditional testing methods for this toxin are expensive and hence, not readily available to African farmers. However, an inexpensive kit developed by the Internationsl Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) allows these farmers to now test their crops for as low as $1 per test.
Hisato Ryono, a assemblyman in Taiji, Japan reports that mercury levels in whale meat being served at a school are 10 to 16 times more than that advised by the Health Ministry. Findings from samples taken at two local supermarkets have also turn up results that are 10 to 12 times higher.
Saskatchewan has recently witnessed a spike in West Nile cases and extreme heat and humidity are the culprits, officials announced.
“Six new cases were reported by the Saskatoon Health region on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 17. As of last week, the province had detected only four cases of the flu-like disease.”
“Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said Tuesday tests had confirmed a second foot-and-mouth outbreak in southern England as he awaited an initial report into biosecurity at a vaccine laboratory suspected of being at the center of the cases.”
Air quality is one of the major issues facing China for the 2008 Olympics. Australian’s Olympic chief, John Coates, has already advised Australian athletes to delay their arrival because of this concern.