Indoor Air
During the extended “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to periodically close public buildings and facilities, followed by re-opening when safe again. Periods of low or no…
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Cannabis, Indoor Air
Given the complexities of the Cannabis Act (2017) , public health communities will face a series of challenges as the Act’s implementation rolls out. Attention to a few key issues may help to…
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Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odourless, colourless, and non-irritating gas that is harmful to humans. As a by-product of incomplete combustion, CO is produced by fuel-burning appliances including…
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Cannabis, Contaminants and Hazards, Indoor Air, Pesticides
Legalization of cannabis in 2018 was intended, among other things, to cut off funding to organized crime by removing revenue streams from the sale of illicit cannabis. Public health broadly supported…
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Cooling Tower Registries and Building Water Management Plans: Strategies to combat Legionnaires’ Disease
Topics:
Contaminants and Hazards, Drinking Water, Indoor Air, Water, Legionella
There’s something in the aerosols
Devices that aerosolize water can increase the risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria through inhalation, leading to serious illness such as Legionnaires’ disease…
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Topics:
Cannabis, Indoor Air
On October 17, 2018, the Federal government’s Cannabis Act (2017) will come into force. Three main goals have anchored the Act through the legislative process:
Reducing cannabis availability for…
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Legionella is an opportunistic premise plumbing pathogen (OPPP) that can cause illnesses including Pontiac fever and Legionnaires’ disease, a severe pneumonia named after an outbreak that resulted in…
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Built Environment, Indoor Air
On January 14, 2019, a massive carbon monoxide exposure event occurred in a Montreal-area primary school. The event appears to have been caused by a faulty heating system and there are still…
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Indoor Air, Mould
Mould is a ubiquitous fungus in outdoor environments that inevitably makes its way indoors. The general population is commonly exposed to mould through inhalation, and less commonly through direct…
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Contaminants and Hazards, Indoor Air, Radiation
Radon gas is a colourless, odourless, radioactive gas that is released during the decay of uranium in rocks and soils. Radon levels outdoors are generally low, but radon gas indoors poses more of a…
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Radon, Indoor Air
Radon gas exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada after smoking and is estimated to cause over 3,000 deaths per year - which is more than motor vehicle collisions (~2,200 deaths…
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Topics:
COVID-19, Indoor Air
As we return to indoor public spaces, and given the ongoing controversy over whether SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted in aerosols, there has been intense interest around both the role of ventilation…
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Topics:
Indoor Air, Radiation, Radon
Public health professionals often find radon a challenging exposure to address, mostly because it is up to home owners to decide if they want to test. This issue is compounded by the fact that the…
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