Air pollution has been declared a public health emergency in parts of Canada’s Ontario.
Officials in the province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change have confirmed more than 1,000 new cases of carbon monoxide poisoning since Wednesday. Almost all of them—98 percent—are believed to be coming from vehicle exhaust.
Yesterday’s report, from the ministry, said that they’ve taken “early measures” to get the leaks under control, including shutting down a gas station and drilling for a new well, in what their interim report called “a precautionary measure.”
The report said that the CO rate was quickly declining in the early morning hours on Sunday, and that one of the main challenges remains preventative measures such as installing exhaust filters in older cars.
“Recent testing at the SOE testing site,” the report added, “determined that 90% of samples have CO concentrations below the safe thresholds for public health.”
The CO-19 issue, according to some, has originated from older, poorly maintained or environmentally unfriendly vehicles and could potentially have a domino effect that goes beyond just Ontario, affecting people in neighboring U.S. states as well.
“This is not an isolated incident,” Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Rod Phillips told the BBC. “There are similar issues in the U.S. that should prompt the federal government to come up with a plan.”