Deadly air pollution by George Debono - 18.05.2010

Nationalist MP Frans Agius is quoted as saying in Parliament that 82 per cent of Malta's deaths were due to heart disease and cancer and that these were the result of "unbalanced diets, lack of exercise, smoking, excess alcohol consumption and obesity". This is only partly correct because it omits possibly the most important present-day cause of early death: air pollution. It is uncanny how ministers persist in omitting the issue of the air pollution arising out of combined emissions from electricity generation and road traffic.

The most potent contributors to pollution in our built-up areas must be the smoke emitted by our buses, diesel-driven commercial vehicles and many private diesel cars. This black smoke is an especially pernicious form of pollution because it is rich in so-called "particulates" which are known to be exceedingly toxic. Particulates have been shown to exceed EU limits and these levels were recorded from sites which are not necessarily locations where levels would be expected to be most representative. It has also been shown that adults and children residing in, or near, roads with heavy traffic are exposed to a greater risk of asthma and early death from heart or lung disease.

Epidemiological studies conducted worldwide have shown a consistent, increased risk of heart and lung disease, stroke and early deaths in relation to exposure to present-day concentrations of pollution, especially particulate matter. The scientific evidence of the adverse effects on health of air pollution was extensively reviewed in Part IV of the think tank report "Towards a Low Carbon Society - the Nation's Health, Energy Security and Fossil Fuels" which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.tppi.org.mt/cms/index.php/reports.

Since the think tank report was compiled, the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) re-affirmed its concern over the significant public health impacts of pollution which have important public policy implications. COMEAP further emphasised the importance of the part played by "particulates" in shortened life expectancy. Only days ago the American Heart Association issued a new expert review statement which emphasised yet again the increased cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and reduction of life expectancy caused by pollution.

In addition, pollution results in poor lung development in growing children and serious aggravation of asthma. This health threat should be a matter of grave concern for parents who reside in traffic-congested urban areas because their children's health is threatened through growing up in a polluted environment. This is especially the case where the traffic includes buses and commercial vehicles which emit smoke. Vehicles which emit smoke are causing heavy pollution and contravening regulations 107 and 195 of Motor Vehicles Regulations 1994; yet no action is being taken against them by police or wardens.

Malta's urban pollution should be a matter of grave public concern to our government but it seems that it is not. By remaining indifferent to our air pollution, our government is failing in its duty of protecting the nation's health.

Comments

shaun mc carthy
they are just a joke making it appear to be concerned about health . pollution , environment etc.
Get strict with zero tolerence on buses , lorries and cars that are seen everyday emitting dangerous fumes .Ministers should take their head out of their butts and take action .

Alex Ellul
Great post George, spot on. Pity that we are spending money, (in Malta we have already spent some 14 million euros), in trying to reduce/eliminate an innocuous gas called carbon dioxide. We should have spent that money on the elimination of particulates and other carcinogens not on life-giving CO2.
There is another type of carcinogenic component of vehicle exhaust, it's the greyish white, acrid smoke that results from worn-out engines, that is, worn out cylinder bores and piston rings causing engine oil to escape into the combustion side of the engine and escaping into the exhaust system. This is the worst type of pollution which our VRT testing seems to be missing.

George Debono
Correct Mr-Camilleri and..........................

The worry is that children are more susceptible to air pollution than adults because of the many different ways they react to air pollution. Children breathe in more air per unit body weight than do adults, especially on exertion when they may take in 20 percent to 50 percent more air than adults - and inhale more air pollution.

Children do not notice pollution ignore it and do not seek avoidance by going indoors or leaving the area. This is important because in the absence of symptoms children are unaware of warning symptoms that might otherwise have reduced their activities in the presence of pollution such as diesel smoke from vehicles.

Children also spend more time outside than adults and are often outdoors during periods when air pollution is at its highest and tend to exert themselves harder than adults when playing outside.

Probably the most important difference between adults and children is that children are growing and developing. Along with their increased body size, children’s lungs are growing and changing too and there is incontrovertible evidence that children living in polluted areas sustain losses in lung functions even when they don’t cough or feel discomfort.

G

Joseph Calleja
Have you ever gotten stuck driving behind a bus or behind a truck from Ghadira to the top of the hill at Mellieha? Talk about pollution and carbon monoxide? Every house and business on Main Street reeks of the deadly pollution. Why worry about smoking when you can breath all that deadly smoke for free? It is uncanny how ministers persist in omitting the issue of the air pollution arising out of emissions from road traffic which I think is the main cause of cancer.

T Camilleri
I cannot understand how one can exercise in fresh air when all you smell is pollution and feel your breath being contaminated wherever you go.