Environment and Health

Your health is affected by the environment you live in. Poor air quality has been linked to several health problems including asthma, lung cancer, heart disease and allergies, and even death. Matters such as climate change, water pollution and chemical substances affect our health and well-being.The Public Healthy Agency of Canada wants you to learn about the environment’s impact on your health and what you can do to protect yourself from environmental risks.

Lean about:

• Outdoor air quality and your health
• How indoor air quality affects your health
• How to protect yourself and the environment from chemical risks
• How to protect yourself from water pollution
• Drinking water safety tips when away from home
• How climate change can impact your health
• Ultraviolet rays and cancer

Pesticides

• FAQs on pesticides
• Fact sheet on the regulation of pesticides in Canada

Related Links

• Environment Canada’s Clean Air Online

Resources for Health Professionals and Educators

Cancer and the Environment

• Workshop Report: Identification of Research Needs in Breast Cancer Etiology
• Review of lifestyle and environmental risk factors for breast cancer: summary report
• Measuring self-reported sunburn: challenges and recommendations
• Occupational exposure to chemical and petrochemical industries and bladder cancer risk in four western Canadian provinces

Air Quality

• Residential Indoor Air Quality Guidelines

Environmental Research and Policy

• The CEPA Environmental Registry - Legal text of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
• Pollution prevention: a federal strategy for action
• Health and the environment: critical pathways

Pesticides

• Visit the: Pest management regulatory agency

Water quality and your health

• Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality
• Activities on water pollution for educators