The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) is a public-domain record of chemicals released into air, water and land by Canadian facilities from various industrial sectors. The aim of this study was to use historical NPRI data (2002-10) to build national and provincial profiles showing amount, identity and health-hazard classification of chemicals released by facilities in different sectors. Nationally, it was found that 97% of total chemical releases were released into air, and that the top 3 chemical-emitting sectors – Manufacturing (MAN), Mining (MIN) and Utilities (U) – accounted for 98% of these air emissions. Statistical analysis was used to compare provincial chemical releases in the above 3 sectors. Testing showed that significant variation exists in the activity level of the national top 3 sectors within each province. This is reflected in the finding that provincial top 3 sectors do not necessarily match the national profile. Next, health-hazard classifications were determined for the 10 highest-emitted chemicals in the provincial and national top 3 sectors. In the national profile, MAN was classified as carcinogenic, neurotoxic, respiratory-toxic; MIN as reproductive-toxic, respiratory-toxic; U as respiratory-toxic. Sector-hazard relationships in the provinces differed from the national trends and from each other. Ultimately, associating sectors with particular hazards may help link the nature of regional health outcomes to the hazard type of local industrial facilities. A next step would be to account for differing toxicity levels among chemicals of the same hazard type by normalizing the data with risk scores that take into account a chemical’s specific toxicity.
A GHS-consistent approach to health hazard classification of petroleum substances, a class of UVCB substances
