If you walk or cycle down Fgura's main road during peak hours, you could inhale up to 20 times as much soot from diesel engines as staying indoors, according to recent research. On average, the amount of soot in the air – properly known as black carbon – is three to four times higher outdoors than indoors in Fgura. The high levels indicated the main source of this particulate pollution to be traffic, the study concluded. "Pedestrians and cyclists in these roads are being exposed to significant levels of particulates at peak hours, while only a fraction of this pollution enters into a home between the two busy streets," said consultant respiratory physician Martin Balzan, one of the authors of the study. Soot is also emitted by power stations. However, when data for the study was being collected the plant in Marsa had nearly been phased out completely. There was half the amount of black carbon in the air on the other side of the Cottonera lines, in Cospicua. The data was collected between January and March last year by Dr Balzan and Michael Pace Bardon from the Department of Medicine at Mater Dei, for a study called 'Respira'. Fgura was chosen because of its high prevalence of...
from timesofmalta.com http://ift.tt/1LkoZJ9
via
IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment