The Health Ministry is avoiding answering questions on concerns raised last week by chemical expert Alfred Vella about food contamination resulting from fireworks.
For a week, Times of Malta has been chasing the Health Ministry to address concerns raised by Prof. Vella.
His team at the University of Malta conducted studies over six years that revealed perchlorate, one of the more important chemicals used in fireworks, in certain crops grown in local fields, such as lettuce.
Times of Malta asked the ministry if the Environmental Health Directorate was concerned about the presence of perchlorate in food and whether it planned to look into the evidence.
It was also asked whether authorities believed any kind of remedial action was necessary to alleviate concerns.
The role of the Environmental Health Directorate, which falls under the Health Ministry, is to safeguard public health from adverse environmental effects.
The reply to daily reminders sent to the ministry was that information was still being collected. On Friday, the ministry eventually sent a paragraph as comment that failed to answer questions posed.
The ministry said that legislative amendments recently introduced were “a step in the right direction in addressing issues related to fireworks”.
Times of Malta pointed out the comment did not address the presence of perchlorate in food, and informed the ministry it would be given another day to reply. No answers were sent despite additional reminders.
Prof. Vella, who led the inquiry commissioned in September 2010 following a spate of tragic firework accidents, said recent legislative amendments intended to make fireworks ‘safer’ were in fact “steps in the opposite direction”.
Saying evidence of chemical contamination from fireworks could no longer be hidden away just because it may be “an inconvenient truth for some”, Prof. Vella pointed out that perchlorate is known to affect the function of the thyroid gland, especially in infants and pregnant women.
The resulting conditions affect around one in 50 women. It most often develops in adults and becomes more common with increasing age.
This can cause various symptoms, the most common being tiredness, weight gain, constipation and aches. Less common symptoms include a hoarse voice, irregular or heavy menstrual periods, infertility, loss of sex drive, and memory loss or confusion in the elderly.
Prof. Vella said Malta probably has “a world record of perchlorate contamination” as it is found in dust fall throughout the year – rising by factors of 100 to 500 from June to September.
His team’s studies found the chemical in homes from about 40 different localities. Residents are constantly in contact with this dust and transfer amounts of it to their stomach via hand-to-mouth transfer, Prof. Vella said.
“I suggest we stop denying facts and face reality... the white smoke of exploding petards is loaded with toxic chemicals,” Prof. Vella said.