RESEARCH ON FACTORS DETERMINING HEALTH - ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE 21ST-CENTURY

During the next few decades, actions on matters dealing with environme ntal pollution will have to be aimed at: 1) eliminating environmental contaminants at the source; 2) identifying biomarkers of exposure and/ or adverse health effects; 3) improving our skills at assessing the pr obability of occurrence of adverse health effects in the community; an d 4) informing the Canadian public in a responsible manner. Primary so urces of pollution related to human activities should be our deep conc ern: utilization of energy sources, particularly fossil fuels; agricul tural activities, such as deforestation and use of fertilizers and pes ticides; and industrialization, responsible for the synthesis of numer ous new molecules. Clinical investigators will be faced with rare dise ase entities characterized by low-level, long-term exposure via food, air, water and soil, and low-incidence responses (e.g. cancer, neuroto xicity, reproductive failure, immunotoxicity). Epidemiologists and tox icologists will be pressed, by the Canadian public, to answer question s regarding the probability of occurrence of health effects as a resul t of exposure to environmental contaminants. Collectively, as scientis ts, our attitudes will have to change drastically; high in the order o f importance is the need to communicate with the public and to diligen tly inform our fellow citizens about the relationship between health a nd environment. In doing so, we might find allies to support our claim that health research in Canada deserves much better support.