Horrified by the air quality

Elenauk wrote:

We've just moved in and are very upset about air quality on this nice island. We live in Sliema and even seaside area is very polluted, no sea breeze at all! I beleive people must know about this before moving. Does anyone know any less polluted areas here?

I do not have any info about other places in Malta but here are some comparisons of pollution indexes. Malta and Sliema ranks very bad.

Comparisons:

Malta
Pollution Index:     67.28
Pollution Exp Scale:     118.59

Sliema
Pollution Index:     75.86
Pollution Exp Scale:     134.87

Spain
Pollution Index:     49.38
Pollution Exp Scale:     82.36

Madrid
Pollution Index:     61.49
Pollution Exp Scale:     117.29

Monaco
Pollution Index:     33.62
Pollution Exp Scale:     72.55

UK
Pollution Index:     36.31
Pollution Exp Scale:     60.55

London
Pollution Index:     55.10
Pollution Exp Scale:     94.88

Cyprus
Pollution Index:     56.44
Pollution Exp Scale:     97.15

Nicosia
Pollution Index:     63.74
Pollution Exp Scale:     112.82

China
Pollution Index:     89.46
Pollution Exp Scale:     164.15

Beijing
Pollution Index:     88.17
Pollution Exp Scale:     163.55

USA
Pollution Index:     32.31
Pollution Exp Scale:     57.16

NY
Pollution Index:     51.72
Pollution Exp Scale:     91.84

Paris
Pollution Index:     58.11
Pollution Exp Scale:     99.68

Brussels
Pollution Index:     57.90
Pollution Exp Scale:     103.31

Berlin
Pollution Index:     27.90
Pollution Exp Scale:     47.69

Worldwide map:
http://www.numbeo.com/pollution/gmaps.jsp

More info:
http://www.numbeo.com/pollution/

Nitrogen dioxide, emitted by both petrol and diesel vehicles, increased in concentration between 2004 and 2007 and there are indications that this is due to an increased number of vehicles. Benzene, a carcinogenic substance emitted from petrol-powered cars, exceeded acceptable levels in Sliema, Floriana, Birkirkara and Ħamrun, where traffic measures are being proposed in order to cut pollution levels at certain times. St Anne's Street, in Floriana recorded a spike in benzene levels throughout the festive season owing to the increase in traffic towards Valletta for Christmas shopping.

Other excesses were recorded in particulate matter emissions, which are largely caused by diesel-powered cars. The biggest pollution levels were recorded at the Msida air monitoring station, with the daily limit value being exceeded 56 times last year, 21 times more than the allowed value of 35.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … rds.275229

Benzene


EthylBenzene


NO2


O3


SO2


Toluene


Mp-Xylene


*The information above is from March 2009
Source: http://www.mepa.org.mt/air-diffusiontubes

If you want to know about Sulphur Dioxide, Benzene, etc. as well as its sources and effects:
http://www.mepa.org.mt/air-sources

You could try Filfla
Sorry, couldn't resist it.

Lusco, thanks for the info.  Well, not very encouraging news though. Really hope that the sutuation will improve. I should have known all these before moving as air for me appeared to be very important. Well, just thinking.... when people come here for tax reason is understandable but  I just don't understand why some of them come here to retire.

Wow, didnt know that. I personally have not noticed the bad air as we live very close to the sea with no cars around.

But the above worries me as well...

Redmik, I see your point:) ...but  dont think this can help  much, as  I read that quite substantial air polution comes from international shipping lines which are very close to Malta plus polution from hurds bank vessels.

Michael78, What area do you live in?

Elenauk wrote:

Redmik, I see your point:) ...but  dont think this can help  much, as  I read that quite substantial air polution comes from international shipping lines which are very close to Malta plus polution from hurds bank vessels.

You're not serious are you?

Glad our area is clear in all cases.
We can sit on our balcony, in the clean cooling breeze blowing up the valley and enjoy a cigarette or two.
That's why we came to retire here.

"We can sit on our balcony, in the clean cooling breeze blowing up the valley and enjoy a cigarette or two".

So thats where our polution comes from!

Terry

redmik wrote:

Glad our area is clear in all cases.

Same here in the South Enjoying sunbathing on my terrace and listening to the birds which are breeding in the vent-duct of my house

btw, I'm afraid that the situation with air pollution in Sliema will get worse during summer/tourist season ...

Markus

Hmm I am a bit confused. Are the above pictures showing that Comino is also rather polluted?  I would have thought its quite clean there

@Elenauk

Tigne Point Complex (cars only in the tunnel)

We can sit on our balcony, in the clean cooling breeze blowing up the valley and enjoy a cigarette or two.

That's really funny, why bother about external pollution while you pollute your own body

This is where we live actually. But my little daughter needs to go to playground and this appears to be a major problem. The air is simply bad and kids have to inhale all this nasty staff! as far as I understood people are fine with that. Funny enough, there is an internal play area in the point shopping mall and.... Guess what! It is located on the -3 level just next to parking area and poor kids have to play and even eat (there is a cafe with tables just on the parking level!!!) next to cars!!! I thing this is bad bad bad. Also just my observation, lots of mums smoke next to kids, I guess this is the reason why people don't care where to walk their kids ...

I am currently looking for a property to live in Malta and I have to recognize that after this thread was open no place fully convince me. According to the maps Pieta seems good enough with regards to air pollution and it is not bad located. Unfortunately it seems that there are no diffusion tubes in Tigné Point nor in Manoel Island, so I wonder how better or worse is the air there in comparison to Sliema and Gżira.

To be honest I have never seen any pollution in the air of Malta (not even in Sliema) but the information published, even from the Government, seems quite clear.

In the Tigné Point website they indeed say something about the supposed reduce of pollution:
"Architect Konrad Buhagiar, partner at aoM, the architects entrusted with the design at Tigné Point, pointed out that authorities both locally and internationally are starting to understand the benefits of urban schemes that shut off areas to traffic thus reducing the negative side effects of congestion and pollution. “Since Midi plc, the developers at Tigné Point, are creating what is ostensibly a small town, we were able to design it around a core which will provide a vital psychological and physical centre to the place.”

Looking the oldest Maps (2004) and the newest ones (2009) you can clearly see that pollution has grown a lot.

More info about pollution in Malta:

Malta has no large scale chemical industry. The major sources of pollution are : the power stations; the waste tips; sewage outflows; motor vehicles and the construction industry. The power stations at Marsa and Delimara, which from 1995 are both oil fired, emit sulphur dioxide which is the single most important contributor to acid rain. Acid rain damages : buildings, crops, birds, fish and trees. Sulphur dioxide also impairs respiration, is a trigger to asthmatic attacks and is also corrosive to the mucous membranes.

(...)

Recent analysis has shown that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels at the power stations contribute to 50% of the Greenhouse Effect, also known as 'global warming'. Coal dust which used to be left uncovered at the Marsa power station is chemically active, as is coal ash which is slightly radioactive - we know that some Enemalta employees (particularly those involved in the transport of coal to the power station and of the ash to the Benghajsa dump) have had to be treated surgically because of the effect of the ash and dust on their respiratory system.

(...)

According to a report drawn up by Swedish scientists some years ago, the Maltese have the second highest level of lead in blood of various countries tested worldwide. Although the report did not conclusively indicate the reason for this phenomenon it indicated the large numbers of cars on the road and the burning of sump oil and (lead) painted wood in the bakeries as probable causes.
(...)

Source: http://www.foemalta.org/pollution.html

This is very sad... I regret that I didn't see this info before moving. I can't even imagine what it will look like in summer.

Off topic. I wouldn't trust what Midi says about environment. They cannot even do proper simple plumbing to avoid smell in the apartments:))) ...

Elenauk wrote:

I can't even imagine what it will look like in summer.

It seems that not necessarily worse. I don't see too much logical relationship between months:

Benzene on January 2008:


February 2008:


March 2008


April 2008


June 2008


July 2008


August 2008


September 2008


October 2008


November 2008


December 2008


January 2009


February 2009:


March 2009:

Elenauk wrote:

I read that quite substantial air polution comes from international shipping lines which are very close to Malta plus polution from hurds bank vessels.

After reading this I have thought about the South of Spain and I have researched a little bit. It looks like the damage that those ships can make must not be ignored; The two places with more pollution in Spain are Huelva (the place with most pollution in Europe) followed by the Algeciras Bay (aka Gibraltar Bay). Huelva pollution is because of another reason but the pollution in the mentioned bay is due to the traffic of 100,000 ships per year and 20 million tons of oil that pass across the Strait of Gibraltar every year. Like it happens in Huelva, in that bay there is a high rate of cancer in the area. Indeed, these two places have the highest rate of cancer in Spain.

Malta has 6700 ships per year. Malta has under its flag vessels totalling 45.6 million gross tons representing 4.3 per cent of the world tonnage of ships. I obviously do not take serious the 45.6 million gross tons since they are probably counting vessels with Maltese flags just because of licenses and tax benefits but with no real activity in the island (what is called "flags of convenience").

If we compare Malta with other countries in this other info, it does not look that serious (but this info is only counting what is produced in the island -not the pollution received from the traffic that pass close the island-):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co … _emissionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co … per_capitahttp://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statis … statistics

"The power station at Marsa is the main
source of these coarse black particles present in the environment to the southeast of Marsa, which
source must have been consistently active in the same geographical location for an appreciable
period in order to explain the mentioned experimental observations. A key consideration is the size
of the dark-coloured particles: their relatively large size suggests that their source is located at a
short distance from their area of deposition. Large particles do not travel far due to their weight.
Another key consideration is their shape under the microscope, especially high powered microscopy:
the particles are often round or sub-round in shape and appear hollow inside and this is typical of ash particles formed from the combustion of fuel oil. A small number of the dark-coloured coarse
round particles collected from Fgura during October 2009 were analysed and found to contain nickel
and vanadium and this corroborates the view that this sample of coarse black particles were indeed
derived from the combustion of fuel oil since the metals nickel and vanadium are chemical markers
for this type of fuel.

Motor traffic exhaust is not a source of the coarse black particles as observed and measured in the
studies carried out in our laboratory. Emissions from motor traffic produce very fine black dust that
is found suspended in air and eventually settles out but this material is much smaller in size than the
black particles measured in our work. The fine particles in automotive dust do not grow in size, once
deposited, to produce larger grit-sized particles. Moreover, traffic dust deposition is not sporadic
and episodic since traffic flows are reasonably regular and their emissions do not suddenly increase
(or decrease).

It is anticipated that once the Marsa power station is decommissioned, deposition of coarse black
particles (technically called “cenospheres”) will very likely decrease considerably. However, this will
not be true of the fine black dusts which motor traffic produces constantly and continuously so that
residents in areas where traffic flows are high will remain exposed to these insidious fine particles,
which, because of their size, can also be inhaled thus making them more problematic from a health
impact point of view. This environmental contamination will continue for as long as its main source
is not properly controlled."

Source: http://www.mepa.org.mt/file.aspx?f=6794

Ozone in the lower atmosphere is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of animals. It will also damage the leaves of sensitive plants. However, ozone near the ground should not be mistaken with the ozone layer in the stratosphere, where it absorbs most of the sun's ultraviolet light preventing it from reaching the Earth's surface.

Contrary to other air pollutants ozone is not emitted directly into the atmosphere. Man made ozone is formed as a byproduct of a series of chemical reactions of precursor pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons. The presence of light is also required for the formation of ozone, hence the term photochemical smog, which describes the situation during which ozone levels can reach harmful concentration levels. These episodes also do only occur during the summer months, when temperature and solar radiation levels are high.

The formation of ozone takes some time and highest concentrations are usually found in rural areas and not in the proximity of its precursors emission sources.

Live Ozone index in Malta:


So currently is "Low" but it looks like you were right, Elenauk, and summer could be worst.

It seems that there was a big controversy in Malta because of the old power station (Marsa power station) that is expected to be fully shut down this year. The newest one (Delimara power station) has been also a controversy (the current PM claimed that the Delimara power station was a “cancer and asthma factory”) and the new extension is expected to only use gas instead of heavy fuel oil.

Obviously another advantage is that Delimara is much far from Sliema, St.Julians, etc, than Marsa.

Also the new planned submarine cable that will connect Malta to Sicily will not generate the pollution in Malta of the current power stations.

I'm not bothered. Didn't say I was. It was also call humour.

rooikat wrote:

We can sit on our balcony, in the clean cooling breeze blowing up the valley and enjoy a cigarette or two.

That's really funny, why bother about external pollution while you pollute your own body

I'm not bothered, certainly not to the extent of some on here.
Having lived through the smog years of the 50's and 60's, in Liverpool and London I cannot become so interested as some seem to be, especially when thinking of the air on Gozo, which is wonderful and clear. I'm not bothered about my body as I hope to break before I grow old and I have completed enough marathons (one sub 4 hrs in Paris)and many other athletic events to last me now. A cigarette has kept me company upon the top of many a mountain and whilst in many a hole in the ground, in the Falklands and elsewhere.
I never smoke indoors or near anyone who does not choose to smoke. So no lectures please; save your own breath!

Oops! We are touchy today

redmik wrote:

I'm not bothered. Didn't say I was. It was also call humour.

Hi Mick

......and to further dampen your enthusiasm for moving to Gozo and Malta here are a few reminders of why I'm not coming again:


The sea gets far too warm in the Summer




The views are rubbish




There's nothing to do




It lacks history and culture



The people are boring





I honestly don't know what you see in it chap.........

back to the drawing board then

rooikat wrote:

Oops! We are touchy today

So what? Glad I amuse you. I don't know you; you don't know me, so personal comments like that are hardly appropriate.

I wasn't aware that many people on this blog did know each other

If I have offended you I am sorry - won't do it again, promise

rooikat wrote:

I wasn't aware that many people on this blog did know each other

If I have offended you I am sorry - won't do it again, promise

You'd be surprised at how many of us do.
No worries.
Ciao!

If it is wind you want you came to the right place!  You just missed it by a week or so.  It will come back I assure you! Malta has gale force winds all winter. Malta is a very small island in a very big sea and the sea controls the weather.  What you are seeing is not air pollution so much, it is natural weather conditions.

Welcome to Malta--Mrellan

I have lived in a small village with fields
all around in the UK for my all my life I still have asthma!
I don't have a problem here! Infact far from it! I don't really use
my inhaler so it can't be as bad as they say!
May I ask if you were that bothered about this why didn't you look
before moving to this amazing island?

Malta is right in the middle of the Mediterranean, and a lot of freight is passing nearby en route to Europe or the Middle East. A study has been conducted lately about the pollution caused by cruiseliners in the Grand Harbour, and it is appalling.

Winds will not suffice to scatter all pollution. The winter season is better but some of the fine particles spread by the fireworks and the other sources of pollution will hang out in the environment and will never be eliminated.

All this is is true unfortunately. Add to this that the cuisine is rather limited. I've been to Brussels lately and I was amazed at how much better the food is there, and not necessarily more expensive.

About the air in Gozo, it was perhaps clean in the past, but I can tell you that it is very bad quality in summer now when they literally bombard the island with fireworks without any respect for the population. Chemicals and smells are everywhere: in the fields, houses, shops, supermarkets... I had to dump bread I had bought because these chemical smells were sticking to it. Firework chemicals infiltrate  the ground and the water. In brief, they are a real disaster for he environment.

ShereKhan8 wrote:

About the air in Gozo, it was perhaps clean in the past, but I can tell you that it is very bad quality in summer now when they literally bombard the island with fireworks without any respect for the population. Chemicals and smells are everywhere: in the fields, houses, shops, supermarkets... I had to dump bread I had bought because these chemical smells were sticking to it. Firework chemicals infiltrate  the ground and the water. In brief, they are a real disaster for he environment.

You have posted on a topic from 2013,it would be better to start a new one, also why do four separate posts?

These posts were meant to reply to disctinctive contributions to the blog. At this stage I do not want to launch a full new discussion of the topic. This discussion is well informed and, as far as I can see, the situation since 2013 has not changed for the better. Other detailed, recent discussions can be found on Facebook (page Public Health Hazards).