Air quality

The objectives of the Impact de la Ventilation sur l’Air intérieur et la Respiration des Enfants asthmatiques dans les habitations (IVAIRE) project were to evaluate the impact of ventilation on indoor air quality and the frequency of respiratory symptoms in asthmatic children living in single family homes. The two-phase project was broken down into two one-year periods: the pre-intervention phase (Phase I) to complete a descriptive study of all participants recruited and the selection of…

Each of these fact sheets contains information relating to different biological, medical and toxicological aspects of the moulds. These fact sheets also describe the requirements for mould growth as well as the materials on which moulds can grow. The site is accessible to everyone at no charge. It is intended for physicians, researchers, construction professionals, as well as the general public.

Weather warning systems are among the main policy tools used by public authorities to protect the population from vagaries in the weather. More particularly, weather warning systems are implemented so that the government can monitor weather conditions and issue warnings when extreme weather events, such as heat waves, cold waves, heavy rainfall, etc., threaten the population. As is the case in all public interventions, it is important to analyze the performance of these systems, in order to…

Ozone (O3) is a gas that is one of the normal components of the atmosphere. In the stratosphere, it forms the ozone layer and protects the earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays. However, in the troposphere, ozone does not provide this same protective effect; it is instead identified as being a greenhouse gas and one of the main components of smog. This gas could therefore constitute certain risks to human health.

The aim of this document is to present approaches to modelling the…

The Government of Quebec's 2006–2012 Climate Change Action Plan, Quebec and Climate Change: A Challenge for the Future, brings together several Quebec government departments and agencies. The Green Fund, financed by a levy on fossil fuels, is mainly being used to fund 26 measures focused on two key objectives: greenhouse gas emission reductions and adaptation to climate change.

The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) is responsible for the health component of…

This summary is the second in a series of five short documents based on a literature review published in 2011. In what follows, we first present the mechanisms of action underlying traffic-calming strategies, as these mechanisms help to explain and predict the effects of calming interventions on air pollution produced by traffic. Next, we summarize the results of studies having evaluated two approaches to traffic calming. Lastly, we consider the implications of such results for public health…

In the autumn of 2007, the Association des victimes de l'amiante du Québec (AVAQ – a Québec association for asbestos victims) and the Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs du Québec (MDDEP – Québec ministry of sustainable development, the environment and parks) published studies on the asbestos concentrations measured in indoor and outdoor air in Thetford Mines. The findings motivated the public health authorities in Chaudière-Appalaches and…

In the autumn of 2007, the Association des victimes de l'amiante du Québec (AVAQ – a Québec association for asbestos victims) and the Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs du Québec (MDDEP – Québec ministry of sustainable development, the environment and parks) published studies on the asbestos concentrations measured in indoor and outdoor air in Thetford Mines. The findings motivated the public health authorities in Chaudière-Appalaches and…

This risk assessment was undertaken at the request of Dr. Louise Soulière, director of public health and evaluation at the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de l'Estrie.

The objective of this work is to assess whether workers in a warehouse of finished rubber products in the Eastern Townships are at risk of contracting cancer because of the presence of nitrosamines in the workplace ambient air and, in the case of a non-zero risk, to suggest a threshold limit not to be…