Inégalités socioéconomiques et effets cardiovasculaires des expositions aux émissions industrielles au Québec, Canada
On a daily basis, populations are exposed to a complex mixture of air pollutants such as fine particulate matters, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide that have been associated with a range of health effects namely respiratory and cardiovascular effects. Emitting sources’ distribution, landscape characteristics (i.e. infrastructure, topography) and thus the complex mixture of air pollutants and populations’ exposure vary greatly in space and time. This thesis aimed to document social inequalities in exposure to industrial air emissions of pollutants and associations between daily exposure to these pollutants and cardiovascular mortality in vulnerable populations living near these sources. Thus, using an ecological design, we analyzed Pearson’s correlations between deprivation level (using four indicators) of 2,189 primary and secondary Quebec schools and their exposure to industrial emissions in a radius of 2.5 to 7.5 km. Our results suggest inequalities in exposure to industrial air emissions at school in children. These associations were not consistent among all four indicators of deprivation. Besides, using a case-crossover design, we evaluated the associations between exposure to industrial air pollutants using both emission exposure estimates and sensor levels and deaths from cardiovascular diseases in the elderly living near industrial sources (<7.5 km). We found no convincing evidence of association. Our results varied greatly which could be caused by the limits of our study related to estimating exposure. Further studies using improved exposure estimates are necessary to support our findings.
Quebec Air pollution Epidemiology Children Elderly Cardiovascular diseases Social status Industrial emissions School Myocardial infarction