Version 3 now available with updated air quality, health and census data!
The Air Quality Benefits Assessment Tool (AQBAT) is a computer application developed by Health Canada which is designed to estimate the human health impacts of changes in Canada’s ambient air quality. It is used to estimate the benefits (positive impacts) or damages (negative impacts) of proposed regulatory initiatives related to outdoor air quality as mandated by the Treasury Board Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management.
AQBAT:
- allows the user to define a wide range of scenarios combining pollutants, health endpoints, geographic areas and scenario years
- consists of a Microsoft Excel file with numerous controls to enable the user to define, run, examine and save the inputs and outputs for specific scenarios
- contains sheets of historical and projected population data, pollutant concentration data, annual baseline health endpoint occurrence rates, and Health Canada endorsed concentration-response functions and health endpoint valuations
- utilizes the @Risk add-in software to perform Monte Carlo simulations, which allow the user to examine the effects of uncertainties on estimated health impacts
- new in version 3: A non Monte Carlo mode can be run in Excel without installing add-ins. Full functionality for Monte Carlo mode still requires installation of @Risk add-in
Examples of applications of AQBAT
- Matz CJ, Egyed M, Xi G, Racine J, Pavlovic R, Rittmaster R, Henderson SB, Stieb DM. Health impact analysis of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke in Canada (2013-2015, 2017-2018). Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jul 10;725:138506. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138506. (See interactive map of results here: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/datalab/wildfire-blog.html)
- Health Canada. Health impacts of air pollution in Canada: estimates of morbidity and premature mortality outcomes, 2019 report. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2019/sc-hc/H144-51-2019-eng.pdf
- Fuels Assessment Section, Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada. Human health risk assessment for gasoline exhaust. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/sc-hc/H144-52-2017-eng.pdf
- Fuels Assessment Section, Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada. Human health risk assessment for diesel exhaust. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/sc-hc/H129-60-2016-eng.pdf