Killing me softly

Dayna Clarke catches up with prolific environmentalist Cami Appelgren and University professor Emmanuel Sinagra, to discuss the stark reality and consequences of Malta’s construction boom.

Malta has one of Europe’s worst levels of air quality and registers a significant number of early deaths as a result of air pollution. What is the scale of the problem in Malta? Is this something accepted on a local level?

APPLEGREN: In Malta, unfortunately there is an issue overall with an “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” mentality, be it waste management or air pollution. So due to the fact that there’s a need to change the mentality, the issue is colossal and not very easily solved. People don’t realise how much they are affected by air pollution until they get ill.

Cami Applegren

PROF. SINAGRA: If one checks the European Environment Agency's website (www. eea.europa.eu), one can see real-time measurements and also a picture from the traffic hot spot Msida. The last 100 days have had about 27% of poor air quality. This is is more than likely to be due to particulates and is expected due to both traffic and Saharan dust episodes. We should not take comfort from that if they are so and as I have said earlier, we need to mitigate against vehicular emissions in the area. It is notable that traffic congestion will be relieved by a series of bridges in this region. Whether that will address the matter remains to be seen. Furthermore, the picture is received in real-time from sites monitored in realtime. There will be localities in Malta, which are not monitored in real time, that due to traffic congestion register some high levels of PM10 (Particulate Matter) an d NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide). If we look at each pollutant, its annual average and its relation to the limit value, we will have a bigger picture of what is happening locally.

Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra

PM10 – There are non-anthropological reasons for this.

PM2.5 – This is combustion-related and the internal combustion engine in cars is a main culprit. This can be poor in Malta, although levels of this pollutant in monitoring sites have been decreasing over the years. (no.1 - See sources index below)

Annual mean PM2.5 concentration for the Msida, Żejtun and Għarb stations compared to the 25 µg/m3 annual limit. (no.2 - See source index below)

O3 (Ozone): Regarding this, we are in the amber region. One needs to understand that this is largely transboundary pollution from our northern neighbours. Incidentally, this pollutant decreases in urban areas as other pollutants, combined with sunlight, react with it.

NO2: Malta is not doing that bad in terms of not emitting much of this pollutant. It is however traffic-related and although even the Msida monitoring station shows annual averages below the annual limit, some exceedances of the hourly limit can be achieved in this area and more than likely during peak traffic in other areas.

Other pollutants: sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and benzene; Malta is doing well in terms of not emitting much of these pollutants.

Regarding early deaths from pollution, this is not an easy subject. There are uncertainties that relate to the coefficients used for the calculations. Nevertheless, we can look at premature deaths attributable to PM2.5, NO2 and O3 exposure; Malta has 240, 20 and 10 respectively. Compare this with a similar population, that of Luxembourg, which stands at 240, 50 and 10.

Now, if you were to consider the years of life lost (YLL/100 thousand) attributable to PM2.5, NO2 and O3 exposure, Malta has 629, 41 and 41 respectively. Compare this with the EU-28 values of 820, 157 and 36. There are worse levels and we are not just talking about Eastern European countries. Of course, there is always room for improvement.

What are the consequences if we ignore this environmental issue?

Appelgren: I think that there is hope that we will address the more significant issue, but too many people are ignoring what they consider small matters. The fact that minor problems are ignored makes them part of the greatest threat. We have to tackle the environmental issues from all angles; through education, enforcement and empowerment.

The latter being what I see as the only thing that can save us at this time.

Prof. Sinagra: I think the work of the World Health Organisation speaks for itself, such as plenty of research to indicate how detrimental air pollution is to our health.

Is there a seasonality here or a notable worse offender?

Appelgren: It’s a truly complex issue. However, a lot of it boils down to a lack of enforcement and will to create and be part of the change. Fines for not having dust control in Malta at a construction site are a little bit more than €1,600. Of course, that doesn’t incentivise anyone to invest in the correct equipment. Additionally, the small risk of being fined plays a role here.

Tourism is more of an issue for the waste management sector; most tourists use public transport or co-ride in taxis which are regulated and in turn emit less. In Malta, traffic has been cited as the primary contributor of PM2.5 levels. The government keeps widening roads and building unsustainable roads with no thought about future infrastructure for alternative transport methods such as cycling or paths for pedestrians. Unfortunately, it is short-term thinking.

Prof. Sinagra: There can be several seasonal factors. Contributions beyond our control are sea spray and Sahara episodes which give rise to the sand red rain. These are not insignificant and have contributed to PM10 measurements at Msida exceeding daily limits more than the stipulated 35 times a year (no.3 - source index below).

Obviously, we still need to mitigate other contributions from traffic, construction and other activities. Tourism obviously contributes to traffic generation and hence give rise to traffic-related pollution with the same seasonality. Fireworks do produce pollutants in a seasonal manner (no.4 -source index below). It is not just the fine particles as in PM10s but also their constituents which may be heavy metals.

Statistics speak for themselves; do you see that the public is concerned about these latest stats?

Appelgren: No, there is no state of panic yet. Many are still afraid to speak out, primarily if they work within the government. I wish that people understood that their frequent sickness, which they don’t suffer from when going abroad, is them being affected by the bad air quality in Malta but they’d rather not realise. It’s hard for people to accept that the air they breathe in is not good for them. They feel helpless.

Prof. Sinagra: I do not know whether it is through intrinsic indifference or through a sense of resignation; however, the public kicks up little fuss about say dusty making certain areas look like deserts. Very little fuss is made of stone-dressing operations which spew out a great deal of dust without any mitigation. I complained once and got a nasty gesture form a group of five workers. Regarding other issues, traffic is generated by the public. We all complain about traffic but we are the traffic.

How do we compare to our European counterparts?

Appelgren: Abroad the concept of car-free city centres or at least discouraging people from bringing their car into centres is gradually taking off. I’m waiting to see that happen on a local level. Urban greenery is also lacking, which doesn’t only help to improve the air quality but also decreases the heat for people, giving importance to public health.

Prof. Sinagra: The EU encourages a number of measures to reach desirable benchmarks which are outlined on the Europa websites.

The construction industry is booming. Is this affecting air quality/pollution? Are there any measures to monitor this?

Appelgren: In my opinion, there is very little enforcement. A resident can email photos of the law being broken but it is a slow process, and the fine is such a slap on the wrist when it comes to dust-related breaches that contractors don’t even care. I would like to see harsher penalties as well as the withdrawal of permits when the law is not followed.

Prof. Sinagra: Monitoring should be taking place; however, if it is, it seems to be inefficient and not keeping up with the inordinate number of building sites run by an industry which seems to have no discipline.

Do you feel the construction industry is playing a big part in general pollution in Malta?

Appelgren: Yes, not only for air pollution but also noise pollution and mental health of the public. It is widely ignored, and soon, the workforce will get affected severely, and that would mean that money is lost. That might be the only time when action will be taken.

Prof. Sinagra: We do know stone-dressing as well as quarrying do produce large proportions of PM10 in the dust generated (no.5 - source index below). In and around towns and villages one can notice unmitigated stone grinding and dust being left at the mercy of the winds, not necessarily an issue for breathing problems. However, the more dust on the roads, the higher resuspension through traffic of material which may become smaller and smaller falling into the PM10 (breathable) range.

THE GOVERNMENT KEEPS WIDENING ROADS AND BUILDING UNSUSTAINABLE ROADS WITH NO THOUGHT ABOUT FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT METHODS SUCH AS CYCLING OR PATHS FOR PEDESTRIANS. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS SHORT-TERM THINKING

In your opinion, what can be done to remediate our reduced levels of air quality?

Appelgren: Steps such as sustainable transportation methods should be on top of the agenda. Cycling should be encouraged, possibly even by helping companies who offer shower facilities and storage of bicycles to their employees with financial perks. And urban greenery projects with trees planted in the ground, not in pots where they die after a month or two.

Enforcement and harsher fines for construction dust and other debris going into public space should also be introduced. The list is endless. The conclusion is that very little is done. The Maltese government would instead buy emission reduction credits when failing their EU targets. The

Maltese citizens are the victims of this, and the EU shouldn’t allow these targets to fail without the country doing its utmost to reach such targets.

Prof. Sinagra: Well, given the parameters of concern and what we can influence, I would like to see more mitigation for dust emissions from the construction industry and a reduction in NO 2 and PM2.5 through reduction of the older diesel engines, say the pre-Euro versions. In terms of passenger and vehicles transporting light goods, these account for ca. 40% of PM10s of which a fraction will be PM2.5. A reduction in NO 2 will also result from this measure. One can also take punitive fiscal measures to reduce vehicular traffic although it seems that politically, this is off the table.

About the interviewees

Cami Applegren heads ‘Clean- Up Malta’, which boasts of 8,500 members. She organised hundreds of clean-up campaigns across the island as well as creating awareness on environmental issues while pushing for legislative changes.

Prof Sinagra joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Malta as a lecturer back in 1993, and in 1998 was appointed senior lecturer. In 2011, he became associate professor. His teaching interests have been in the areas of physical chemistry, polymer chemistry as well as environmental chemistry. He also holds the post of chairman of the Institute for Sustainable Energy. Prof Sinagra is a Fellow at the Institute of Science and Technology as well as at the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a chartered chemist and scientist through the Royal Society.

Sources

1. State of the Environment Report 2018

2. State of the Environment Report 2018

3. Disentangling the contribution of Saharan dust and marine aerosol to PM10 levels in the Central Mediterranean, MM Scerri, K Kandler, S Weinbruch, Atmospheric environment 147, 395-408)

4. Effect of fireworks on ambient air quality in Malta, R Camilleri, AJ Vella Atmospheric Environment 44 (35), 4521-4527)

5. Fine dust emissions from soft stone quarrying in Malta, AJ Vella, R Camilleri Xjenza 10, 47-54

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Dayna is a senior speech therapist by day and feature writer by night. When she’s not busy fixing words, she is travelling the world to add to her fridge magnet collection.