Exploring applications of the Ontario Toxics Reduction Act for exposure surveillance

May 2018

Executive Summary
Exposures to toxic substances in the workplace contribute significantly to the global disease
burden and are increasingly being recognized as an important disease risk factor. In Ontario,
the reduction of workplace exposures to toxic substances including cancer-causing agents could
help prevent many occupational diseases in the province. An effective exposure surveillance
system can serve as a tool to inform workers of potential hazardous substances they may be
exposed to in their workplace and also aid policy makers in setting priorities for occupational
exposure monitoring and enforcement activities.

Data from exposure surveillance databases can be used to establish priorities for disease
prevention among particular types of toxic substances, or in particular industrial sectors or
regions where these substances are used. Fortunately, a legislated database that collects
annual data on the industrial use of various toxic chemicals already exists in the Province of
Ontario. The Toxics Reduction Act (TRA), Ontario Regulation 455/09, requires industrial facilities
in four major manufacturing and mineral processing sectors to track and report their use and
emission of toxic substances to the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The
TRA is the only program of its kind in Canada and provides a unique opportunity to leverage this
type of data for an exposure surveillance system in occupational health. This report explores
the potential application of the TRA Program as an exposure surveillance tool by examining
current trends in toxic substance use by industry sector, by region and by substance type.

In this report we used TRA data to identify particular sectors such as the chemical
manufacturing sector as well as the primary metal manufacturing sector that would benefit
from an exposure surveillance system. We also used the data to identify certain regions where
the use of cancer-causing substances was highest such as in Lambton County and the City of
Sudbury. The report’s findings suggest that targeted toxic substance use reductions in key
sectors and regions could minimize potential occupational exposures among workers that work
with the particular substances identified in this report to lower overall occupational disease
risk.

This report demonstrates how the TRA could be leveraged as an exposure surveillance tool to
assess potential exposures to toxic substances using a sector, regional and substance-specific
approach. The applications of the TRA data described in this report could help set priorities for
disease prevention by directing future policies towards workers that are employed in certain
industrial sectors or in specific regions. Therefore, the TRA Program can help to fill an important
gap in occupational exposure surveillance in Ontario using facility-level data to highlight trends
occurring at the industry sector or regional scale.