Major Environmental Concerns  

[ Land | Forest | Biodiversity | Water | Marine & Coastal | Atmosphere | Urban & Industrial ]

Underlying Causes

Health threats to children in urban and industrial environments are of particular concern in the region (NRC, 1993; Needleman and Landrigan, 1994; OTA, 1990; Schewiz and Harris, 1993; Canadian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1996a). Four million one- to six-year-olds in the United States-including two thirds of poor, minority, inner-city pre-school children-have levels of lead in their blood high enough to cause brain damage (Pohl and Chivian, 1996). The U.S. Public Health Service has concluded that toxic lead exposure costs the country tens of billions of dollars in health expenditure and productivity loss (Pohl and Chivian, 1996). This lead is primarily from indoor pollution (e.g., from paint) and from mother-to-child transfer during pregnancy. (Lead remains in the body, in bones, for example, for a long period of time.)

The remedies adopted to upgrade environmental quality during the past two decades have not always benefited all communities or all populations within a community equally. Many minority, low-income, and Native American communities have raised concerns that they suffer a disproportionate burden of health consequences due to the proximity to industrial plants and waste dumps, and from exposures to pesticides or other toxic chemicals at home and on the job. They argue that environmental programmes do not adequately address these disproportionate exposures or the underlying "environmental justice" issues (Greenwire, 1996).
Reducing overall chemical loads on North America s environment

is one of the region s major concerns. The dramatic growth in the number and variety of chemical products since the Second World War has led to an increasing concern for the health of both wildlife and humans. More than 35,000 chemicals are reported to be in use in Canada today (Environment Canada, 1996d). Just how many of these are toxic is unclear. Today, one in four U.S. citizens lives within four miles of a toxic waste dumpsite (EPA, 1996c). Restoration and remediation of hundreds of thousands of contaminated ground sites will cost the United States an estimated US$100 billion to US$1 trillion over the next 30 years (NSTC, 1996). In 1991, Canadians produced an estimated 5.9 million tons of industrial hazardous wastes, most of which came from industrial sources. It is estimated that as many as 1,000 sites in Canada are contaminated by hazardous wastes (Government of Canada, 1991).

The United States is the largest producer of wastes in the world (PCSD, 1996). Per capita generation of solid waste has increased 65 per cent over the last 25 years (NSTC, 1996). Some 195 million tons of municipal waste were generated annually in 1992 and 1993; by the year 2000, total municipal waste generation is projected to reach 222 million tons per year (Government of the United States of America, 1995). Throughout North America, urban centres are having increasing problems finding sites for new sanitary landfills. Campaigns to save resources and encourage recycling or waste separation by local, regional, and national public institutions have already led to the implementation of stricter rules in certain communities. Canada is committed to a 50-per-cent waste-reduction target established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (Canadian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1996b).

United Nations Environment Programme