Exhaust linked to cancer

Allow me to add my voice to the growing chorus of discontent with regard to the proposed traffic and car parking schemes in Qui-Si-Sana, Sliema among others. Bringing large volumes of traffic into a residential area will be a very costly manoeuvre. What I mean is that it will cost dear both in health and in real monetary terms.

There are many strong indications that diesel fumes and other exhaust by-products cause cancer, most specifically lung cancer, as well as other breathing-related diseases.

Malta has a very high incidence of lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths. Lung cancer is being detected more frequently in the under 50s and a larger proportion of these patients are non-smokers. The exact cause for this change is uncertain but one of the main culprits is thought to be the increasing exposure to exhaust fumes from motorcars. One expert has likened this risk to being equal to passive smoking. There is some evidence to suggest other cancers are set off by the same toxic ingredients found in exhaust fumes; you can take your pick as most cancers are in the list.

The most striking association I have come across is the link between the incidence of childhood acute leukaemia and the parental exposure to exhaust fumes around the time of conception, as a result of damage to sperm DNA.

I urge the powers-that-be to think awhile. Think before you route large volumes of traffic through a residential area, placing a car park below one of the few remaining open spaces, where children would play among the exhaust vents.

Think of the cost in terms of future suffering. Think.