LUNGS

In the air

More than 15,000 Canadians die each year as a result of poor air quality. It’s time for us to protect our lungs and be aware of the air we breathe.

See what
you're breathing

To protect yourself from air pollution we created virtual lungs that reflect your location's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI): a scale calculated based on the major air pollutants found to be the best indicator of health risk – even at low levels of exposure. Help spread the importance of lung health and make air quality a priority for Environment Canada.

Your Lungs

Climate change and poor air quality are becoming a global health crisis. Rising temperatures increase the risks of air pollution and make our air quality worse. While air pollutants in Canada have decreased over the last few years, more needs to be done.

Canadians are already seeing how air pollution can affect their health. In fact, more than 15,000 Canadians die due to air pollution-related causes every year. Even more Canadians live with the effects of air pollution every day.

Exposure to air pollution can lead to coughing and wheezing, shortness of breath, getting infections more easily, lung tissue redness and swelling and other diseases. It can also worsen existing lung diseases like asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

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The Canadian Lung Association provides Canadians like yourself with free health information resources on a number of topics. From educational brochures, videos or access to a respiratory educator, we are here to provide you with information, support and reassurance that you are not in this alone. We can also provide you with tools to manage an existing disease; resources to help you quit smoking or to learn about other preventative measures you can take to keep your lungs healthy.

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The Canadian Lung Association has invested more than $1.1 million into lung health research last year. This money goes towards funding research that helps us find new treatments, manage existing diseases and provide support for young investigators. Every dollar invested into lung health research means someone can breathe a bit easier. The importance of lung health research has become ever more evident during the last two years. We need to fund Canada’s brightest minds to ensure a breathable future.

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Have any questions and want to talk to an expert? Call our toll-free helpline and speak to a respiratory therapist 1-866-717-2673.

The Canadian Lung Association continues to advocate on behalf of all Canadians to ensure that we live in a place that is easy to breathe in for all. Our chief advocacy concerns are air quality, vaping and tobacco control and a call for more funding towards life-saving lung research.

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Air Quality

Investments are needed to help us achieve a net zero-emissions future and deal with the impacts of climate change. We are advocating for more investments towards sustainable transportation options; improved energy efficiency and addressing wood smoke.

Vaping

Despite some success in restricting flavours and marketing tools that draw in young users, more work remains to be done. We support Health Canada’s recent announcement to ban flavours but urge that mint/menthol— the second most popular flavour amongst youth— are included within that ban.

Smoking & tobacco control

Tobacco continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Canada. We are urging the government to make the tobacco industry pay for the costs of programming to prevent its use and help people to quit.

About

To show how the health of our lungs is up in the air we developed the #LungsInTheAir: a 4-story floating art sculpture that will travel across the country to help spread the importance of lung health.

Calgary

September 25, 2021
10:30AM-4:30PM local time
East Park Village

Toronto

September 29, 2021
11AM-7PM local time
Roundhouse Park

Halifax

October 4, 2021
10:30AM-4:30PM local time
Waterfront

Fezz Stenton is an artist from Toronto who has performed visuals for musicians such as Juan Atkins, Four Tet and Nina Kraviz a Toronto's Electric Island festival and has animated custom content for artists like Grandtheft and Bad Bunny (Xite Labs).

He's always been interested in cutting-edge technologies, breaking things, putting them back together and discovering something new. Using tools like Resolume Arena, Touch Designer, Unity 3D and Cinema 4D, he continues to explore new techniques with each project.

See his work

Glow Inflatables Ltd are an international, premium supplier of custom inflatables; their expertise covers every stage of the process, including design, manufacture, supply, installation and aftercare. They have made customizable inflatables for some of the biggest events, brands and acts in the world, such as Cold Play, Formula 1, Fortnite and ITV.

See their work

With over 100 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including almost half a century in Canada, Air Liquide and its homecare respiratory subsidiaries, VitalAire and Respiratory Homecare Services are proud to support this year’s Canadian Lung Association campaign across the country.

Learn more about them