Poor home air quality linked to respiratory health issues for First Nations children, new study finds

A new study looking at housing conditions in remote First Nations in northwestern Ontario associated poor air quality with respiratory health issues for young children.

Results of the study, a joint effort between the CHEO Research Institute, along with the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, were published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday.

The study found that 25 per cent of children involved required medical evacuation for respiratory illness, with just over 20 per cent of children admitted to hospital during the first two years of life.

Dr. Thomas Kovesi, a researcher with the CHEO Research Institute and pediatric respirologist who co-authored the study, said the houses involved were "really small" and had an average of nearly seven occupants.

"The amount of people in these houses overwhelm what these houses are capable of," Kovesi said in an interview with CBC News.

"We need much more funding to maintain existing housing. To me, one of the jawdropping moments in this research was going into a house built in the mid-80s, and the people living in the house told me the house was scheduled for demolition.

"If we do nothing but provide the funding for these houses to last three times as long, we're going to end up with three times as many houses."

Kovesi said the project involved installing air quality monitors inside the homes for five days and assessments done by housing inspectors. As well, researchers went to the community's nursing station to examine health records.

Those findings showed that 85 per cent of the houses lacked controlled ventilation, while 44 per cent had water penetration in the walls. High amounts of interior surface area mould and bacterial residue known to cause wheezing was also found.

"At the end of this, we could correlate what we found in the health records with issues involving the indoor air quality," Kovesi said.

The study was funded by Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada.

Responding to the study results, Nishnawbe Aski Nation issued a statement calling on the federal government to address housing conditions in First Nations.

"We have known for years that the quality of health and housing are linked, and we now have solid data to support this," Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Derek Fox said in a written news release. 

"We have been advocating for years for substantial improvements to housing, but the government keeps asking for proof that the [mouldy], drafty houses many of our members are forced to live in are connected to their poor health."