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An overwhelming majority of Canadians are worried about the safety of imported foods – fruits and vegetables in particular – because of lax environmental standards in other countries, according to a new poll.

The survey, commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, found that 87 per cent of respondents were very or somewhat concerned about the potential impact on their health because the inspection and monitoring of foods may not be adequate abroad.

That concern is quite justified, a leading expert told the CMA annual meeting Sunday in Vancouver.

“It's underappreciated by the public how important food is as a source of exposure to contaminants,” said Ray Copes, director of environmental health at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. He said the level of surveillance of food, and imported food in particular, is clearly inadequate.

But food is not the public's only environmental worry. Eighty-two per cent of those surveyed said they were concerned about the effect of climate change on their well-being and, specifically, how rising global temperatures might hasten the spread of disease.

In the same poll, 75 per cent of respondents said they were troubled by the use of herbicides and pesticides. A near-identical number, 74 per cent, expressed worry about the effects of soil contamination on local fruits and vegetables.

“The effect of the environment on health is not an abstract concept for Canadians,” said Colin McMillan, president of the CMA.

He said the high level of concern in the general public means physicians need to find “more ways to educate and help Canadians offset and manage environmental health effects.”

Doctors should also lead by example, Dr. McMillan said. At its conference, the CMA is inviting doctors to measure their ecological footprints and offering tips on “greening” their practices.

The CMA represents the country's 65,000 physicians. The membership consists of general practitioners, specialists, interns, residents, medical students, and retirees.

The CMA releases a National Report Card on Health Care annually.

This year, the focus is on the link between environment and health, the intersection of the two top-of-mind political issues.

More than one in four people surveyed said they or a family member had sought medical treatment for an environmentally related health condition such as cancer, asthma, allergies or other respiratory illnesses.

“The degradation of the environment is resulting in increasing emergency room visits, hospitalization and even premature deaths,” Dr. McMillan said.

A large majority of Canadians, 83 per cent, said they have changed their lifestyle to lessen their impact on the environment.

These changes include recycling, driving less, conserving energy, composting and using public transit.

Further, two-thirds of those polled said they had taken action to protect their own health from environmentally related risks. The actions cited included using sunscreen, recycling, buying organic foods and drinking filtered water.

Due to the focus on climate change, the environment now ranks alongside – both were cited by 29 per cent of those surveyed – as the issue most deserving of attention from Canada's leaders.

The new poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid, surveyed 1,001 Canadian adults between June 19 and 29. It is considered accurate within 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

In addition to the environmental questions, for the seventh year running the CMA asked the public about their perceptions of the health system.

Over all, the responses were more pessimistic than in recent years.

In 2007, about three in five Canadians, 62 per cent, gave the system an A or B grade for overall quality of health-care services. That is down from 67 per cent a year earlier.

Governments who are ultimately responsible for the health system scored low marks. Only 31 per cent of respondents assigned an A or B grade to the federal government, and provincial governments fared only slightly better with 35 per cent.

More than one in five voters, 22 per cent, gave governments an F, a failing grade, for their administration of the health-care system, up from 16 per cent last year.

Despite all the money and political energy invested in reducing wait times, the public seems unimpressed.

In fact, the grades assigned on access to services have steadily declined over the past four years. Only 29 per cent of those polled gave an A mark in assessing access to family doctors in the community, while access to emergency room services ranked a lowly 18 per cent, and access to specialists fared even worse at 14 per cent.

Overall, the public was most critical of the paltry level of access to mental health services, with a lowly nine per cent assigning an A grade.