AIR POLLUTION:
Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a health hazard. Although the colourless gas causes no irritation and has no detectable taste or smell, it can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb oxygen. The health impacts of carbon monoxide occur because it impairs the ability of red blood cells to transport oxygen to body tissues. Poisoning can be fatal.

Carbon monoxide is produced by the combustion of fossil fuels. Most carbon monoxide emissions come from vehicles.

Canada’s OECD Ranking
Canada ranks a dismal 26th out of 27 OECD nations in carbon monoxide emissions per capita and 25th out of 27 in total carbon monoxide emissions. Only Australians produce more per capita carbon monoxide emissions than Canadians, while only Australia and the United States produce higher total emissions.

Canada produces 334.9 kg of carbon monoxide per capita, almost two and a half times the OECD average of 136.8 kg of carbon monoxide per capita.

Efficiency
Canada produces 16.4 kilograms of carbon monoxide emissions per $1000 US of GDP, more than twice the OECD average of 7.9 kilograms of carbon monoxide emissions per $1000 US of GDP. Canada’s efficiency record is worse than any other OECD nation except Australia. Again, this indicates that Canada’s economy is much more pollution intensive and, consequently, less efficient than the vast majority of our industrialized competitors.

The Trend
There is some good news here, in that Canada’s performance is improving. Since 1985, Canada’s emissions of carbon monoxide have decreased by 12.1%. The progress can largely be credited to regulations requiring the installation of catalytic converters in motor vehicles.

However, thirteen of the seventeen other OECD nations for whom trend data are available achieved larger reductions in carbon monoxide emissions during this period than Canada.

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