This section includes, in one convenient place, a broad range of resources for reference and historical purposes. Most relate directly to Dr. Soskolne's own contributions, while others refer to important material that Dr. Soskolne has relied on and/or that he encourages others to visit. Each archived item bears its title, its type, a location, and a description. Simply use the "Find" [Ctrl+F] function to locate key words and subjects of interest. This list follows no particular order.
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The International Network for Epidemiology in Policy (INEP) released its Position Statement on the topic of Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology on January 5, 2021. In 2014, Colin Soskolne initiated this project and led it to completion in 2021.
The full citation is: Soskolne, C.L., Caldwell, J.C., London, L., Bero, L., Gochfeld, M., Cranor, C.F., Ramos-Bonilla, J.P., Mandrioli, D., Sass, J., & Advani, S. (2020, December 24). International Network for Epidemiology in Policy (INEP) Position Statement Series: Conflict-of-Interest and Disclosure in Epidemiology (95 pages).
A Win-Win-Win Path for Flight Safety, Health, and Corporate Profits
This article is based on a PPT presentation to the GLOBAL CABIN AIR QUALITY EXECUTIVE (GCAQE) International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference held September 19-20, 2017, at Imperial College London, England. It was published in the Journal of Health and Pollution 2019;9(24) as CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS with the following full citation:
Soskolne C.L. A Win-Win-Win Path for Flight Safety, Health, and Corporate Profits. In: Journal of Health and Pollution: December 2019, Vol. 9, No. 24, pp. S104-S108.
The 2017 International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference was held 19-20 September 2017 at Imperial College, London, England. Full proceedings include pp. S1-S142 (PDF).
Archived Newspaper Reports As A Complementary Source Of Epidemiological Data For Research Into Climate Change Adaptation: Alberta, Canada, 1960 – 2000. Chapter 21 In: Health of People, Places and Planet (July, 2015). The book can be downloaded here.
In this chapter, Dr. Soskolne and co-authors describe an innovative method for using newspaper reports as a complementary source of epidemiological data in the context of CLIMATE CHANGE.
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Globalisation and Ecological Integrity in Science and International Law, 2011
In this chapter, Drs. Soskolne and Kramer use the example of Canada's Sydney Tar Ponds to raise the question of conflicting interests resulting in a case of suppression bias and social injustice.
On the Even Greater Need for Precaution under Global Change
In this paper, Dr. Soskolne argues that, given the stressed nature of all ecosystems that sustain life, we have an even stronger obligation to be precautionary to avert the collapse of life as we know it.
Global Ecological Integrity and 'Sustainable Development': Cornerstones of Public Health
Report of a World Health Organization (WHO) International Workshop held at the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome Division - Rome, Italy, 3 – 4 December, 1998. The link between degrading environmental conditions and human health was first explored through a SSHRC grant (1996 – 1999) on which Dr. Soskolne was co-investigator. The dire conclusions of this research led to this World Health Organization (WHO) Workshop at which the merits of our SSHRC interdisciplinary research were recognized. Following the Workshop, this official WHO Discussion Document was released in July 1999. It placed this topic prominently on the international public health agenda. This document became the single-most accessed resource on the WHO-EURO website for the years 2000 – 2003, serving a major advocacy role.
In 1973, when computers were still in their infancy, Dr. Soskolne recognized their potential for enhancing research capacity while simultaneously reducing administrative burden. His integrated cardio-respiratory pathology information system continues to provide useful information in the international public health interest to this day, impacting the occupational health of underground miners in particular.
Reprinted from: SA Medical Journal | Vol. 50 | 23 October 1976 | pp. 1832 1836
Globalization and Ecological Integrity in Science and International Law
Dr. Soskolne's most recent contribution as a co-editor is to a book to be launched in June 2011 entitled Globalisation and Ecological Integrity in Science and International Law. The book is edited by Laura Westra, Klaus Bosselmann and Colin Soskolne and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Epidemiological Research, Interest Groups, and the Review Process
Aside from being first to formally call for discussions on ethics in epidemiology in 1985, Dr. Soskolne's work has had international ramifications for the development of the profession. Included in such developments is the very nature of the social relevance of the line of inquiry pursued by epidemiologists worldwide, and how information is presented by consultants to remain unbiased and accessible.
Journal of Public Health Policy | Vol. 6 (2) | June 1985
Epidemiology: Questions of Science, Ethics, Morality, and Law
Dr. Soskolne was instrumental in advocating, on the part of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), for the European Union not to make access to data impossible for research in the public health interest.
"Challenges to Epidemiology in Changing Europe"
This paper shows the linkages between epidemiology as the rational science to health policy formulation.
Conference held in Krakow (Poland), July 2 3, 1999
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Developing a Framework for Analysing The Impacts of Urban Transportation
Josh Marko, a Masters student, completed a community-based project examining the impacts of freeway expansion. This work was designed to influence the way in which decisions are made about roadway expansion projects, with consequences for urban sprawl.
Cancer incidence and mortality in the industrial city of Sumgayit, Azerbaijan: A descriptive study
James Adruchow's Masters thesis. Mr. Andruchow was a student of Dr. Soskolne's, who supervised his thesis. This work resulted in 3 peer-reviewed published papers and a textbook published by UNDP (Azerbaijan).
Cancer risk associated with pulp and paper mills: a review of occupational and community epidemiology
This paper reviews the published literature examining the state of knowledge on health risks associated with exposures experienced by workers in and communities proximate to pulp and paper mills.
Chronic Diseases in Canada | Vol. 29 | Supplement 2; 2010
Soskolne CL; Sieswerda LE
A Population-Based Case-Control Study of Occupational Exposure to Acids and the Risk of Lung Cancer: Evidence for Specificity of Association
This paper brings to closure Dr. Soskolne's contributions to his study of occupational acid exposures. It shows no lung cancer effects, but specificity for laryngeal cancer.
INT J OCCUP ENVIRON HEALTH | 2011;17:1–8
Soskolne CL et al.
Laryngeal cancer and occupational exposure to sulfuric acid
This paper resulted from Dr. Soskolne's award-winning doctoral dissertation completed in 1982. It was a pioneering occupational epidemiology study setting the foundation for further research. This led, in 1991, to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) deciding sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity to humans of occupational exposure to strong-inorganic-acid mists containing sulfuric acid. Hence, this mixture was designated as a Group 1 carcinogen in 1992. So definitive was the epidemiological evidence that the decision was reached in the absence of animal/toxicological evidence.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY | 1984; 120(3), pp.358–369.
Soskolne CL et al.
This video explains how neo-liberalism ensnares democracy. It is in French with English subtitles; 2 hours and 40 min long, and is a must-see for those interested in better understanding what is driving current declines in global well-being and security.
From theory to practice in environmental epidemiology: developing, conducting and disseminating health research
This book was written following an epidemiological enquiry under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO-EURO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-Baku, Azerbaijan), and the University of Alberta, Canada. The book, freely downloadable, is intended to guide communities in data-poor regions of the world to scientifically investigate perceived excesses of cancer relating to occupational and environmental contamination.
Authors : C.L. Soskolne, J.E. Andruchow, F. Racioppi
A Feasibility Assessment to Study Societal Adaptation and Human Health Impacts under Various Future Climate Scenarios Anticipated in the Canadian Prairies Report on the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC), 2001
Dr. Soskolne wrote Chapter 7: "Eco-epidemiology: On the Need to Measure Health Effects from Global Change." This paper shows how epidemiology can help in advancing the prevention of catastrophic harm on a global scale.
Edited By Laura Westra, Klaus Bosselmann and Richard Westra, with foreword by David Suzuki
Earthscan, London (2008). 384 pages. ISBN: 9781844075652
Ethics guidelines for environmental epidemiologists
This paper provided the first set of ethics guidelines for environmental epidemiology and was adopted by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) in 1999. These guidelines are posted on its website.
The Science of the Total Environment | 184 | 1996 | pp. 137 147
In this paper, it is argued that the integration of ethics into professions engaged in the risk sciences will aid in better protecting environmental health and hence the integrity of life-supporting ecosystems.
Ecosystem Health | Vol. 4 (2) | June, 1998 | pp. 109 118
Authors: Soskolne CL, Sieswerda LE
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Epidemiology in legal proceedings in the United States
This paper is the first known to examine the role of epidemiologists in providing expert testimony in legal proceedings in the USA.
In: "The Identification and Control of Environmental and Occupational Disease"
Eds. MA Mehlman and A. Upton. Advances in Modern Environmental Toxicology, 1994:Part 1 (Volume XXII) 101 117. Princeton Scientific Publishing Co., Princeton, NJ.
Authors: Soskolne CL, Lilienfeld DE, Black B
Quebec's Chrysotile industry defends asbestos mining, export
The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a product of a decade-long, worldwide, cross cultural dialogue on common goals and shared values.
Tax support of asbestos industry means we all share the blame
In this paper, Dr. Soskolne and his co-authors — Huynen, Ladd and Martens — present a post-normal science toolkit for bringing qualitative methods into the mainstream of eco-epidemiological enquiry.
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Ethical, social and legal issues surrounding studies of susceptible populations and individuals
This paper, arising from the masters thesis of Lee Sieswerda, was the first to examine the dynamics between global ecological change and human health, opening the field of eco-epidemiology as defined from the highest possible policy perspectives.
Epidemiology | Vol. 12 (1) | January 2001
Authors: Sieswerda LE, Soskolne CL et al.
Ethical decision-making in epidemiology: the case study approach
This paper uses ethical analysis for exposing how the Exxon Corporation had attempted to suppress the work of Dr. Soskolne in the early 1980s regarding the discovery of an association between occupational exposure to strong-inorganic-acid mists in the development of laryngeal cancer.
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology | Vol. 44 (suppl. I) | 1991 | pp. 1255 1305
A Canadian retrospective on AIDS: Implications for future policy, economics, behaviour, modification, and research
In this paper, Dr. Soskolne provides what became recognized as remarkable accurate projections for the burden of HIV/AIDS in Canada along with its policy implications.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada | Series V | Volume II | 1987
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CBC "Radio Noon: The Phone-in Hour" in Toronto with David Chatzky. July 7, 1983. Radio Interview at a time when there had been 31 cases of AIDS reported in Canada. 43:20 minutes
Audio file MP3
Housed internally
Dr. Soskolne's early involvement in AIDS advocacy in Toronto is captured in this historic AIDS radio interview. Interviewed are Dr. Colin Soskolne (Ontario Task force on AIDS), Dr. Jack Fowler (physician treating AIDS patients), and Bill Mindell, City of Toronto Department of Health
CBC Radio national and local Toronto News on July 11, 1983. Michael Clement reporting. 2:17 minutes
Audio file MP3
Housed internally
Dr. Soskolne was severely reprimanded through his employer at the time, the Ontario Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, for the strong advocacy position taken in this news broadcast that embarrassed the Ontario Ministry of Health.
CBC Radio Metro Morning Interview on July 12, 1983. 5:40 minutes
Audio file MP3
Housed internally
Dr. Soskolne describes the proposed research study from the team that he led at the University of Toronto (1982 – 1985) requesting funding to the extent of $1.7 million. Eventually $1.6 million was provided over a period of four years starting in 1984.
CBC Radio Interview, October 11, 1984. 6:56 minutes
Audio file MP3
Housed internally
Dr. Soskolne, AIDS Research Project Leader at the University of Toronto, provides a progress update appealing for more volunteer participants.
96-K-Lite Radio Call-in show. Edmonton October 22, 1987. 31:33 minutes
Audio file MP3
Housed internally
Dr. Soskolne does one of his last AIDS call-in shows in Edmonton to allay both professional and public fears about the transmission of HIV. He also addresses other relevant issues, including funding.