Air Pollutants: Sources, Fates and Health Impacts

Urban air pollution is a public health problem. Exposure to combustion-derived and industrial emissions has been linked directly to pre-mature deaths and increased numbers of hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

In Hamilton, at least 100 people die and hundreds more arrive at our hospitals each year, as a result of exposures to fine particulate material, nitrogen oxides, ozone and other gaseous pollutants. Hamilton is not different from any other large urban centre in North America. Air pollution problems extend well beyond the urban boundaries of our cities into rural and even remote areas.

This lecture will discuss the sources of air pollutants in Canada and the U.S., the scale of smog problems around the world and the health effects impacts of these pollutants. The combustion emissions that fuel our modern lifestyle lie at the heart of the air pollution problem.

Professor McCarry will also present an overview of the ongoing research at McMaster University that tries to understand the biological impacts of common pollutants, the transportation of chemical contaminants in the environment, and some transformations of common pollutants. He will also talk about local efforts to deal with air pollution problems and the current public education initiatives that highlight the health impacts of air pollution.