"The air is running out": a connection was found between the pollution in Haifa Bay and cancer

A new study indicates a link between exposure to industrial air pollution in Haifa and the risk of contracting various diseases between the years 1967 and 2012.

According to the findings, the risk of getting sick increased by between 7% and 16%.

However, no association was found with types of cancer that are known to be significantly associated with air pollution

Yoav Itiel

01/08/2022

Monday, August 01, 2022, 21:39 Updated: 23:31

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The factories in Haifa.

July 2020 (Photo: Yoav Ityel)

A new study supported and funded by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, indicates a link between environmental exposure to industrial air pollution in Haifa Bay and cancer incidence between 1967 and 2012.

The study found that between these years, exposure to industrial air pollution in Haifa Bay was associated with an increased risk of getting cancer between 7% and 16%, depending on the extent of exposure to the pollution.

However, no association was found with types of cancer that are known to be significantly associated with air pollution.

In addition to examining cancer, the study found that in the years examined there was an excess morbidity of asthma diseases along with other allergies in the Haifa Bay compared to the reference group of subjects outside the Bay.

However, unlike cancer, the study did not find that this excess morbidity was linked to exposure to industrial air pollution, because in the areas most exposed to industrial pollution, no excess presence of the disease was observed.

Demonstration of environmental activists in front of the refineries.

November 2020 (photo: official website, none)

The most common cancer in the entire population, as well as in the Haifa Bay population, was breast cancer in women, followed by melanoma.

Among men, the most common cancer was in the reproductive organs.

However, it should be noted that the researchers did not have the opportunity to take into account factors that may also be significant in the development of cancer, such as smoking or any relevant occupational exposure.

The study population included all adolescents aged 16-20 who were born in Israel and whose medical condition was assessed for military recruitment by the Israeli Medical Corps from 1967 to 2012, of whom 59% were male.

In total, 2,187,317 teenagers were tested.

The results of the research were published as part of a call by the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The study was conducted by Prof. Raanan Raz from the School of Public Health and the Center for Sustainability at the Hebrew University, in collaboration with Prof. David Brodai from the Technion, Prof. Gilad Twig from the Medical Corps and the Gartner Institute, Prof. Little Keenan-Booker from the University of Haifa and the National Center for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health and other researchers .

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"At some point it hurts to cough"

Avihu Han, from the "Greens of Haifa" organization, told about his health as a child in the city in the 1960s.

According to him, he suffered from asthma like many of his friends.

"On difficult nights, when my dry coughs would not stop and I no longer had air to breathe, my parents would sit me in the old car, and we would limp to a place with good air, for example a vegan. So you have to remember that there were no inhalers used by asthmatics yet," he said .

"So I would stand there looking west at the sea and the refineries in between, and try to resume regular breathing, but always in vain."

"The coughing, whistling and wheezing continued. The air in the lungs was running out. At some point it hurts to cough," Han continued.

"An evening like this would not have ended before they would have driven me to a private doctor in the center of Carmel, who would have injected me with adrenaline, which would have ended the asthma attack, and allowed me to sleep the rest of the night,

Han said that he also suffered from allergies, and said: "From time to time, doctors would poke me along the arm and try all kinds of allergens to check what they were from. They told me that I was sensitive to the pollen from the blossoms of the Carmel pine trees, to the fur of Haifa cats, why not. They only didn't say about the refineries then And here, a new scientific study points to a 'not hidden' connection between the pollution of the refineries and the appearance of the troublesome disease in the residents of the area, and of course we are not talking about the cursed disease, cancer."

Haifa Bay.

Year 1995 (Photo: Government Press Office, Attorney General - Avi Ohion)

"It's a wonder that they are now bringing the data, the last of which is before the current plan to reduce emissions and that they start in 1967, more than a thousand years ago," Hahn added.

"Did we have to wait so long to research and come to these seemingly trivial conclusions for every Haifa? Still, this is an important study that is surprising because it is published on the margins of a call for another project, as if it was hidden there."

Han intends to run for mayor next year, and called on the government to urgently promote the evacuation of Zan from Haifa Bay. "We don't have the privilege of waiting another year and another year.

Evacuate the polluting factories now," Han said. "We in Haifa also deserve to live like every resident of the State of Israel.

I will continue to work every day and all day to get the factories out of here.

This is my commitment to the residents.

In October 2023, I will replace Kalish and make removing the pollution from Haifa a priority."

The Green Trend organization, which leads the struggle to evacuate Haifa Bay, responded: "This study confirms what we already knew - the residents of Haifa Bay have been abandoned for decades to polluting and carcinogenic factories. The refineries cause illness and death. Unfortunately, the evacuation plan for the polluting factories approved by the government is full of holes, It does not include concrete timetables or budgetary sources, and above all continues to endanger the health of hundreds of thousands of residents of the area."

Bezan's response: "Any attempt to link government pollution in the past with the company's activity is a sin against the truth"

The Bezan group that operates the refineries said in response to the study: "We received the gist of the study and will study it.

Any attempt to link government pollution in the past with Bezan's activities since it became public is false. For most of the years to which the study refers, the refineries were owned and held responsible by the government, for all that this implies. Since becoming private in 2007, the group has invested over NIS 1.5 billion, which have resulted in an unprecedented environmental improvement, while reducing emissions into the air by up to 96% since 2009. A year ago, the Bezen Group presented a new strategy that will respond to the need for the hour - a long hybrid period in the energy market, in which Bezen will continue to meet the needs of the Israeli economy alongside investment in green energy.

The recent government decision regarding the Haifa Bay practically obliges Bazen to continue operating for many more years, while committing to the energy security of the State of Israel.

As the world reality proves to us, any transformation in the energy field must be carried out gradually and with careful planning.

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