What doctors want you to know about gas-powered data centres and human health

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment warns that gas-powered data centres in Alberta pose significant health risks, including air pollution from nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, noise pollution, and contamination from PFAS. The document highlights that these facilities place additional strain on water security and already overburdened rural healthcare systems, particularly affecting vulnerable populations such as children, older adults, and those with chronic illnesses.

• On-site natural gas generators used by data centres release nitrogen oxides, fine airborne particles, and volatile organic compounds (such as benzene and formaldehyde), which are linked to asthma, chronic bronchitis, dementia, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease, and cancer.
• Compliance with emissions standards does not guarantee safety, as individuals with pre-existing heart, lung, or asthma conditions can be harmed by pollutant levels that healthy adults might tolerate.
• Data centres create significant water stress by using millions of litres of water daily for cooling, which may negatively impact community stability, mental health, and food security in Alberta communities already facing drought.
• The operation of data centres introduces noise pollution and PFAS ('forever chemicals') leakage, which are linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, learning difficulties in children, birth defects, thyroid disease, and weakened immune systems.
• The arrival of new workers for large infrastructure projects like data centres increases pressure on rural healthcare systems already suffering from emergency room closures and doctor shortages.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (n.d.). What doctors want you to know about gas-powered data centres and human health. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Data-Centres-Health-Fact-sheet-with-references.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. What doctors want you to know about gas-powered data centres and human health. n.d. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Data-Centres-Health-Fact-sheet-with-references.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=What doctors want you to know about gas-powered data centres and human health |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Data-Centres-Health-Fact-sheet-with-references.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironmentndwhat, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{What doctors want you to know about gas-powered data centres and human health}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Data-Centres-Health-Fact-sheet-with-references.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }