After rejecting a study which found that Haifa babies who live in Haifa’s most polluted areas have smaller skulls, the Health Ministry now accepted statistics indicating that industrial and traffic pollution in Haifa correlates with more incidences of respiratory, heart and blood vessel diseases and cancer. It also noted that certain air pollutants were more prevalent in Haifa than anywhere else in Israel.
Childhood asthma and heart attacks are more common in Haifa than anywhere else. Heart attacks affect 35 per thousand Haifa residents compared to 22 per thousand in the rest of Israel, blood pressure is 25% higher than average, and the risk of getting sixteen of eighteen cancers was greater than anywhere else.
Ironically, due to procedural irregularities, the Haifa Magistrate’s Court just canceled a city order to close down the Carmel Olefins petrochemical products factory due to excessive pollution. If violations persist, procedures will be taken to remove its license.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
