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Vaping rates falling among Canadian youth – but that could be temporary
Vaping rates among young Canadians have dropped in the past few years, but there’s a chance they might bounce back now that COVID-19 restrictions have eased.
These findings come from Health Canada’s latest report, called the Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey.
The survey found that 29 per cent of students admitted to trying an e-cigarette in 2021-22, which is lower than the 34 per cent recorded in 2018-19.
“Rates did go down slightly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained Dr. Nicholas Chadi, a pediatrician specializing in adolescent and addiction medicine at St. Justine Children’s Hospital in Montreal.
“When the pandemic hit, there were social rules restricting contact between young people, which limited the number of opportunities for young people to initiate or use in social contexts. Those limitations and rules are no longer in place, so what we expected was to see a bit of an uptick after that.”
Although the numbers declined, experts still warn the rates of youth vaping are far too high.
Read more about the survey and the dangers of youth vaping.
Barbecue season and food-borne illnesses
As Canadians eagerly fire up their grills to embrace the arrival of barbecue season, one food safety expert is warning about the potential health risks tied to the warm-weather pastime.
Whether it’s undercooked meat, improperly cleaned grills or cross-contamination, there are many ways one can be exposed to food-borne illnesses, caused by salmonella and E. coli, during a backyard feast.
“The risk of contracting food-borne illness can spike during summer months because many people don’t handle food safely during the barbecue season, whether in the kitchen or on the grill,” said Lawrence Goodridge, professor at the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at the University of Guelph.
To safeguard against these hidden dangers, Lawrence recommends following a few simple steps to reduce the risk of food-related illnesses.
Read more about food safety and barbecue season here.
— THE TOPIC —
Canada takes a step closer to banning more ‘forever chemicals’
— WHAT EXPERTS ARE SAYING —
Canada is mulling further regulatory action on cancer-causing “forever chemicals” found in a range of items such as firefighting foams, cosmetics and food packaging.
On Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada revealed a draft report on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), stating there are broad concerns about the risks they pose to both humans and the environment.
PFAS, which are a class of more than 4,700 human-made substances, are used in a wide range of products (such as clothing, furniture and carpets) and easily spread throughout the environment, even entering the bloodstream of humans and animals.
Exposure to certain PFAS is associated with reproductive, developmental, endocrine, liver, kidney and immunological effects, according to Health Canada.
Environment Canada said it is considering regulating the use of products containing PFAS but will wait until a 60-day comment period is over on the draft assessment before acting.
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