The recently published booklet Environment Report Indicators 2009 (www.mepa.org.mt/teri2009) compares data on Malta’s environment with that of previous years. The report tracks the environment and how we are performing as a nation from year to year.
Air quality has overtaken waste as our most serious environmental problem- Anne Zammit
The indicators measure how well objectives are being met. Smiley green faces indicate 10 things to be positive about in a set of indicators on our environmental performance, and progress was noted in a number of areas. On the down side, frowning, red-faced symbols are signs of areas where we need to do better in.
A public attitude survey revealed that air quality has overtaken waste as our most serious environmental problem.
Particulate matter (PM) consists of tiny particles suspended in the air. They could be dust from construction or generated by the erosion of vehicle tyres, diesel fume particles, sea salt blown by the wind or even dust from the Sahara desert.
They can act as vehicles for pollutants to enter the body via the lung and are associated with general ill health, decrease in lung function or asthma.
Wind-blown dust from Africa can contribute to more than 60 per cent of total particulate matter during a strong dust storm. Airborne particles from the Sahara/Sahel region are made up of quartz, calcite, dolomite and clay minerals.
Guidance notes for EU member states on establishing how much Saharan dust contributes to particulate matter recommend annual reporting on the dates of Saharan dustloads, taking into account local background levels two weeks before and after the event. Testing to determine the mineral load of a sample is an expensive procedure.
It is argued that readings from the air quality monitoring station at the Msida marina roundabout, which is a more open area than Ħamrun, may not be truly reflective of PM levels in more built-up and traffic dense areas. A monitoring station in Floriana known for recording high levels of pollution up to several years ago seems to have disappeared off the radar.
Europe’s environment agency has just released indicators for 2011 with specific policy questions. Such as what progress is being made in reducing emissions of primary particulate matter and how different sectors contribute to particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (PM10).
Reducing our exposure to benzene to the lowest practicable levels is important since there is some health risk at any level.
Benzene has been classified as a substance known to cause cancer in humans. It was the first carcinogenic substance to be regulated by EU air quality laws.
New petrol stations are obliged to equip their pumps with petrol vapour recovery technologies.
The most recent benzene maps published on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority website are from 2007/2008. These show 44 monitoring sites with benzene still below EU limits but becoming more widespread. There was no report on this pollutant for 2009 due to a ‘technical fault’ (overexposure of samples).
Reaching European standards for levels of chloride, sodium and iron in drinking water remains difficult, with salt entering coastal aquifers and rusting of old pipes. Of greater concern than the aesthetic question of how our water tastes is a health question over the effect of fertiliser/manure introducing nitrates to groundwater.
Adults seem to be able to consume large quantities of nitrates in drinking water or food with no known ill-effects since their stomachs produce enough acid to prevent nitrates from being converted into more harmful nitrites.
Sometimes, children younger than six months are less likely to have this ability. In certain cases the health risk can be serious.
Under the nitrates action programme regulations of 2011, farmers are now obliged to store livestock manure over the winter and submit a fertiliser application plan by March 1 of each year.
A key policy question on water consumption will reveal more about the state of our water resource once data becomes available for fresh water provided by private suppliers (often illegally) originating from ground water sources.
The Malta Water Association, set up last year to raise awareness on sustainable management of our limited water resources, backs reuse of suitably treated sewage effluent to substitute groundwater extraction in agriculture, and has called for a halt to illegal extraction.
Performance indicators in the Water Services Corporation annual report for 2009 (the most recent one available) show that over a quarter of sewage was treated, even as the sewer network was extended by six kilometres. At the same time, there were 350 failures to deal with at various pumping stations.
Despite the problems, Malta’s bathing waters were all found to be of good (two-star) or excellent (three-star) quality during 2009. The star rating symbol was established last year by the European Commission.
An e-health portal managed by the environmental health directorate is a useful tool for keeping up-to-date with information on bathing water quality.
These reports are kept up over the May to October bathing season.
• Upcoming events this month on the environmental circuit include:
• A permaculture workshop regarding the need for alternative markets in integrative island agricultural markets andinnovations in ecological agriculture niches will be held on Saturday and Sunday at Baħrija Oasis .
•Another workshop on ‘Reinforcing community resilience’ is planned to be held in March with the assistance of the European Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Rabat local council.
For information on these workshops view www.permaculturemalta.org/workshops.
• A conference on sustainable energy will be held on February 21 by the University at the Dolmen Hotel, Buġibba.
For details, view www.um.edu.mt/iet.
razammit@hotmail.org