Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: air quality

Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Air quality in Toronto among worst in the world amid wildfire smoke, global tracker shows

Published June 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Rochelle Raveendran

Toronto is currently the second most polluted major city in the world as wildfire smoke spreads across the city, according to a global tracker.

The ranking by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, puts the city below Santiago, Chile, and above Montreal, which is in third place as it also faces wildfire smoke from western provinces.

As of noon Friday, air quality in Toronto was above 10 on Environment Canada’s air quality health index, which means “very high risk,” according to the weather agency’s website.

Continue readingAir quality in Toronto among worst in the world amid wildfire smoke, global tracker shows
Comments closed
Topic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis

Wildfires: Toronto and Montreal among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world

Published June 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Radio-Canada
Published on:
By Stéphane Bordeleau

The smoke generated by the fires raging in the forests of western Canada worsened air quality on Friday in the Prairies, Ontario and Quebec, where…

Continue readingWildfires: Toronto and Montreal among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world
Comments closed
Topic: wildfiresView all posts for the topic: wildfires

A warning from Canadian eye doctors about wildfires and smoke

Published June 6, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO — The Canadian Ophthalmological Society is urging people to take care of their eyes as wildfires burn across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

People on the frontlines of the fires may get airborne particles in their eyes that need to be flushed out with sterile solution, said Dr. David Plemel, an eye surgeon in London, Ont., who was speaking on behalf of the society.

If it’s not easy to get the particle out, he recommends seeing an eye professional so they can remove it without damaging the cornea.

Smoke travels long distances and can affect people’s eyes even if they are far away from an actual blaze, said Plemel, who is also an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Western University.

Continue readingA warning from Canadian eye doctors about wildfires and smoke
Comments closed
Topic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis

Much of Manitoba under air quality warnings as wildfires rage

Published June 2, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:

Air quality warnings have been issued for a large swath of Manitoba, though rain could bring some much-needed relief.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) upgraded a number of air quality statements to warnings Monday morning in a large portion of southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg, Steinbach, and Lac du Bonnet.

These areas join much of northern Manitoba, which have been under air quality warnings for days due to wildfires burning in the region and in northern Saskatchewan.

However, the weather agency notes smoke will improve with rain forecast through southern Manitoba on Monday, while northern communities under wildfire threat will likely have to wait until the weekend for precipitation.

Continue readingMuch of Manitoba under air quality warnings as wildfires rage
Comments closed
Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba

‘Very high risk’ air quality in Brandon, as smoke persists

Published May 31, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Brandon Sun
Published on:
By Abiola Odutola

The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for Brandon reached 10+, indicating a “very high risk” level on Saturday morning, as thick smoke was expected to linger in the air until Saturday night.

Environment Canada’s forecast anticipates that these hazardous conditions will persist through Saturday night, with only a slight improvement expected, dropping to a “moderate risk” (AQHI 6) by Sunday morning and a “high risk” (AQHI 7) by Sunday night.

The elevated readings are the result of thick wildfire smoke that drifted into Brandon Friday evening and remains heavy over the city Saturday morning. The smoke originates from wildfires burning in northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan and has led Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement for the city.

Continue reading‘Very high risk’ air quality in Brandon, as smoke persists
Comments closed
Topic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick

New N.B. school air quality testing results are delayed. Here’s why

Published December 16, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Telegraph-Journal
Published on:
By Andrew Waugh

Annual school air quality test results haven’t been released on time because the former Higgs government ordered every school to be tested.

Usually the data, which measures carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in classrooms to indicate overall air quality, is released in the last few months of each year and focuses on several dozen schools without mechanical ventilation systems.

But this time, they’re all being tested.

Continue readingNew N.B. school air quality testing results are delayed. Here’s why
Comments closed
Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

We can, and must, do more to protect students in higher education from the risks of post-COVID condition

Published December 8, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Conversation
Published on:
By Julia M. Wright, Dick Zoutman, Mark Ungrin, Ryan Tennant

Canada’s postsecondary institutions have a responsibility to protect students and others on campus from the risks of post-COVID condition as a matter of campus safety.

Canada’s Chief Science Advisor, Mona Nemer, recently released the report, Dealing with the Fallout: Post-COVID Condition and its Continued Impacts on Individuals and Society.

Post-COVID condition (PCC), also known as “long COVID,” refers to the poorly understood and often serious health damage left by the SARS-CoV-2 virus after the acute illness appears to have passed.

Universities, colleges and schools have a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect students, staff and faculty from foreseeable harms. They must ensure the water on campus is safe to drink. They must install fire and carbon monoxide detectors and make evacuation plans. Many have adopted a smoke-free policy on campus as part of a commitment to an international charter on health promotion in universities and colleges. Yet there is little pandemic health promotion on Canadian campuses.

Continue readingWe can, and must, do more to protect students in higher education from the risks of post-COVID condition
Comments closed
Topic: wildfiresView all posts for the topic: wildfires

Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke associated with increased risk of dementia: study

Published December 2, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Alexandra Mae Jones

Being exposed to wildfire smoke over a long period of time could increase the risk of developing dementia even more than exposure to other sources of air pollution, according to new research.

In the study, published last week in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers looked at a cohort of more than 1.2 million people over the age of 60 living in Southern California between 2008 and 2019. They tracked dementia incidence among the cohort and compared it to the average concentration of fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, in the air due to wildfires in the region.

They found that when the three-year average concentration of wildfire PM2.5 went up by just one microgram per cubic metre of air, there was an associated 18 per cent increase in the odds of a dementia diagnosis.

Continue readingLong-term exposure to wildfire smoke associated with increased risk of dementia: study
Comments closed
Topic: air qualityView all posts for the topic: air quality

Student’s article spurs inspection of school’s HVAC system

Published November 17, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Kingston Whig Standard
Published on:
By Peter Hendra

Kingston Secondary School will have its automated heating, ventilation and air conditioning system inspected next week following the publication of a student-written article that found the concentration of carbon dioxide in the school exceeded safe levels.

Principal Darren Seymour sent a letter to students, staff and parents last week in response to the article that appeared in “The Bears Bulletin.”

Continue readingStudent’s article spurs inspection of school’s HVAC system
Comments closed
Topic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis

This wildfire season, changes are coming to better inform people about smoke hazards

Published May 20, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Sonja Puzic

Last year’s record-breaking wildfire season forced Canadians to become familiar with the scale of air pollution as hazardous smoke drifted across the country.

Environment Canada’s colour-coded Air Quality Health Index, designed to help people understand health risks associated with contaminated air, was closely watched under hazy, orange skies that stretched beyond the Canada-U.S. border.

But the AQHI, measured on a scale from one to 10+, was not calculated the same way in all provinces and some people were unsure how index values applied to their daily activities.

Environment Canada hopes several changes being made this year will improve how air quality-related health risks are communicated and understood by the public.

Continue readingThis wildfire season, changes are coming to better inform people about smoke hazards
Comments closed
Topic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis

Risk of wildfire smoke in Ottawa low — for now: Environment Canada

Published May 13, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on:
By Blair Crawford

Smoke from wildfires in Western Canada will soon be drifting high overhead, but it poses no health risk in Eastern Ontario, says Environment Canada.

“Taking a look at our guidance and the weather patterns this week and the way things are panning out, it doesn’t look like Eastern Ontario needs to be concerned about its air quality at this time,” Trudy Kidd, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Monday.

“At best, people might see some haze in the skies in the coming days as the forest fire smoke makes its way through and disperses aloft, but from what we can tell at this time, the particulate matter — and that’s what’s of concern when it comes to forest fires — we’re expecting it to stay aloft,” she said.

Continue readingRisk of wildfire smoke in Ottawa low — for now: Environment Canada
Comments closed