There is no proven medical link between the incidence of cancer and the Delimara power station, according to two oncologists.
If we really wanted to make a difference to Malta’s health, then people should look into smoking cessation – that would have a huge impact- Nicholas Refalo
“There is no evidence that there is an increased cancer risk around the power station but, having said that, we should strive for clearer and less wasteful energy anyway,” oncologist Nicholas Refalo said, adding that claiming otherwise was being “alarmist unnecessarily”.
The issue emerged on Friday at a Labour Party activity in Marsaxlokk, when a woman who lives near the Delimara power station recounted how her father died of cancer, as had her 55-year-old sister and another relative.
The woman, who was asked to speak by Labour leader Joseph Muscat, said one of her sons, aged three, also had cancer and there was a high rate of asthma in her family.
Dr Muscat pledged he would shut down the Delimara power station which he described as a “cancer and asthma factory”. When contacted by The Times, Dr Refalo said that one could not take what the woman said at face value since the high rate of cancer in her family could depend on other variables such as her socio-economic status, smoking habits and family history.
“I don’t like being alarmist unnecessarily,” he said. While the pollutants emitted from the power station could be carcinogenic, “if we really wanted to make a difference to Malta’s health, then people should look into smoking cessation – that would have a huge impact,” he said.
Oncologist Stephen Brincat said while pollutants presented in the burning of fuel for the power station could cause cancer, it was difficult to attribute the cancer incidence to the power station.
There were many pollutants in the air and one had to examine the whole scenario and look closely into what type of chemicals were emitted from the power station and whether there were filters, for example.
He added that Malta’s small size made it very difficult to prove that there was a correlation between the power station and cancer in nearby areas.
After Labour’s Marsaxlokk meeting, the Health Ministry issued a statement denying that Malta had high cancer rates, saying it actually had the second lowest rate in Europe. The ministry also said asthma rates in Marsaxlokk were actually the lowest in Malta.
But yesterday Dr Muscat stuck to his guns.
“I insist that power stations that work with heavy fuel oil are factories of cancer and asthma. This is not a matter of numbers but people’s experiences… it’s not on that we keep this technology that is not acceptable on an environmental and health level,” he told journalists during a press conference.