Roadside heartbeat

Strong arm tactics are being applied to bring Beijing's air quality within standards acceptable to the World Health Organisation by August when the Olympic Games begin.

With Tibet already a major embarrassment, Chinese authorities hope that adoption of the latest EU standard for car emissions by the Olympic hosts will at least reassure foreign delegations that there will be no heavy pollution to harm athletes.

Badly maintained old vehicles running on diesel are the worst source of harmful airborne particles. Shutting down petrol stations that are not up to standard and banning cars and buses that fail checks are among the measures put in place by China for the games.

Strict controls on the sulphur content of Chinese petrol will help bring particulate pollution down. Petrol in California contains no more than 15 parts per million, while in Malta it is still high at one per cent.

Driving from Mosta to Mġarr will no longer feel like a visit to the countryside if a new car showroom is built as proposed, just before the bend where a vegetable stall marks the beginning of the rural settlement of Zebbiegħ. A notice of application to construct a petrol station and showroom for the sale of motor vehicles appeared at the roadside last month.

The relocation of petrol stations from inhabited areas to the outskirts of Maltese towns and villages is backed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Malta Resources Authority and Enemalta Corporation. It began as a health concern over harmful vapours from volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

An argument for moving a petrol station from Floriana to fields near Chadwick Lakes cited the need to sell more petrol because of the increasing number of cars on the road. Higher petrol sales in urban areas means more frequent filling of underground storage tanks with health and safety risks to neighbouring residents.

In preparation for the Ta' Buqana petrol station now being constructed on the Rabat-Mosta road, Mepa judged the shifting of the Floriana petrol station to this location to be a social need. At least the decommissioning of the Floriana pumps meant an end to the danger of VOCs emitted from fuel tank vents and other emissions from cars running their engines underneath residents' windows.

Visiting consultant Catherine Witherspoon from the California Air Resources Board told the audience at a talk held earlier this month at the University that the odour of petrol could not be smelt in California. She warned that if Malta did not want to change its car culture then the Maltese would have to upgrade to new cars or risk more disease.

She advised motorists who fill up their cars at service stations without vapour recovery to stand upwind of the fumes. Volatile organic carbons (VOCs) mix with the nitrogen oxide in exhaust. Reacting to sunlight, the chemicals form ozone, causing permanent damage to lung tissue and interfering with the immune system. Breathing air with high ozone concentrations increases the rate of asthma attacks and aggravates symptoms of people with respiratory illness.

New petrol stations in Malta have to be fitted with vapour recovery systems to meet present and future EU legislation. Fuel vapours escaping from a car's petrol tank are returned to the underground storage tank in a Stage 1 system. Stage 2, not yet mandatory, will see Enemalta fuel tankers converted so that the harmful vapours are collected in the tanker truck itself for recovery at the fuel depot.

So far, the corporation has installed a vapour recovery unit at Birżebbuġia to deal with the recovery of vapours released during the discharge of vessels and loading of road tankers. Further changes are to follow on the heels of a tender for the commercialisation of the Petroleum Division.

Petrol vapours include a number of direct toxic air contaminants, including benzene and toluene.

Benzene, one of the primary toxic air pollutants contributing to public health risks, can affect the central nervous system, the respiratory tract and immune system. Exposure to benzene has been associated with increased risk of cancer.

Toluene is a central nervous system depressant associated with irregular heartbeat and injury to liver and kidneys. It also has the potential to affect foetal development.

Last year, the following plea was made in a local newspaper to have a Sliema petrol station moved:

'A petrol station in Sliema, in the heart of a residential area, is an imminent danger and a huge hazard. We have heard so much about these kerbside stations having to be relocated to an area where they cannot cause as much harm, (VOC emissions from fuel stations can cause numerous chronic illnesses - EU Commission Information). In this particular area (Savoy), three residents are ill with cancer - is this a coincidence? When are we going to act and not just talk (and promise)?'

Fine particulates, which can enter the deep recesses of the lung and cross the brain/blood barrier, are now at the centre of health concerns. Particles hundreds and thousands of times smaller than the width of a single human hair can cause plaque build-up in arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes.

Ms Witherspoon, who drove past the skateboard and BMX bike park on her way to the University, cautioned against such exposure with a warning: 'Don't let kids exercise next to the road'.