After saying Wednesday that the population of Rouyn-Noranda could decide on the arsenic emission threshold that they consider acceptable, the national director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, specified Thursday that it will rather be up to the ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change to establish this threshold.
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“My goal, by going to the region, was to make as clear as possible the risks associated with these contaminants,” explained Dr. Boileau, Thursday, during a press scrum.
For several days, the situation in Rouyn-Noranda has been in the spotlight, while a study has established that its population is at greater risk of developing lung cancer there.
The Horne Foundry is particularly singled out, although the causal link between the arsenic emissions it emits into the air and the prevalence of cancers has not yet been proven. Public Health plans to look into it.
On Wednesday, the National Institute of Public Health had established that with the status quo, there could be 13 to 554 additional cases of lung cancer per million inhabitants in the city. On a population scale, that would translate to 1 to 14 more cases.
“These are still small numbers, but the fact remains that these are risks that are in excess of what we would expect”, weighted Dr. Boileau.
Currently, the Horne Foundry can emit up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter, while the current standard in Quebec is rather 3 ng/m3.
“In all reasonableness, to think that a company can change all of its processes in the space of a few days is implausible. You have to take a look that is realistic to get it down as quickly as possible, ”warned Dr. Boileau.
He indicated that discussions are currently underway with the company so that it takes measures to reduce the arsenic emissions it emits into the air.
“The objective for us is to reduce as much as possible, and to see if this reduction has effects on health and if these effects will persist”, he added, specifying that we must tend towards 0 or 3 ng/m3.
