For goodness sake, it's healthy to eat one whole egg, including the egg yolk, every day if you don't have cardiovascular disease and you do have a healthy level of blood cholesterol.
Diet is a crucial factor which can determine the state of our health and well-being. What we eat and how we cook can have a substantial impact not only on our general health but also on our susceptibility to various long-term health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and colon cancer. So, what are the causes of cancer in Malta? Air-monitoring systems used in Malta and overseas only give partial information about the toxicity of the air we breathe and may be resulting in underestimating lung cancer risks.
About 40% of the cancer cases are preventable and, with an effective prevention strategy, we can prevent illnesses, save lives and reduce suffering. With such a densely populated island (last year with over three million visitors) what can be the cause and effect of carcinogenic elements? By definition, a carcinogen is any substance that can cause cancer. The air we breathe contains a complex mixture of carcinogenic compounds, most of which are not included in the international list of mandatory compounds to be monitored.
Normally, about 90% of lung cancer cases are related to tobacco smoking and about 2% are accounted for by outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke. In a 2012 study, this shows unprecedented concrete evidence that passive smoking in the home and personal smoking in teenagers "really affects" allergic conditions in children. The study had found that 31% of five to eight-year-olds were passive smokers, followed by 51% of 13- to15-year-olds.
It found that maternal and paternal smoking resulted in the children having an increased chance of wheezing sometime in their life, exercise-induced wheezing, nocturnal cough and asthma. According to a World Health Organisation March 2021 report, second-hand smoke kills around 1.2 million people every year and 65,000 of these premature and preventable deaths are children and adolescents under 15 years. Apart from smoking, which are the other factors that can be labelled carcinogenic?
In our daily lives, without knowing, we are often exposed to chemicals. In fact, potentially deadly chemicals are everywhere, from carbon monoxide contained in vehicle exhaust to a variety of toxins found in household cleaners. However, being faced with such elements in the workplace can be a very different matter. Many people have jobs that are rife with dangerous chemicals and they may work for years in these hazardous environments.
Effective protection is a must, because exposure to certain chemicals can ultimately cause cancer. It's important to identify items that might be carcinogenic because we can then take specific measures to avoid or limit our exposure to them. Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and air pollution are risk factors for cancer and other noncommunicable diseases. It is false to advise regular walks and exercise in Malta, when in most villages the persistent traffic emissions are high.
Scientists use evidence-based approaches to catalogue substances that are known or are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. To date, over 500 substances have been identified as definitive, probable or possible carcinogens for humans.
This includes items like asbestos, automobile exhaust, processed meat or ultraviolet rays. One should stress that exposure to a carcinogen does not necessarily mean you will get cancer. A number of factors influence whether a person exposed to a carcinogen will ultimately develop cancer, including the amount and duration of the exposure, exposure to other environmental factors and the individual's genetic background. One of the most important lifestyle factors to consider is diet. Some foods can increase our risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity, which are associated with certain types of cancer. One is better to avoid glucose feeds such as starchy foods cooked at high temperatures, when a compound called acrylamide is formed. This includes popular potato products, like French fries and potato chips.
Another killer is colon cancer, as this is the fourth most-commonly diagnosed worldwide. Studies have confirmed that cases of colon cancer mostly originate from economically developed countries as a result of industrialisation, urbanisation and mainly due to a richer diet. Another common carcinogenic condition, which is unfortunately so prevalent in Malta, consists of fine particles made up of pollutants due to elevated motor traffic.
The concentration of these particles in Malta was more than double the recommended WHO threshold of 5 micrograms per cubic metre and puts us in 49th place of the 134 countries in the report, when listed from best to worst. Such microscopic particles, while small, can be hugely damaging to human health due to being easily absorbed into the lungs and bloodstream, leading to asthma, cancer, strokes and lung disease, and have been linked to car usage and construction, among other factors. It is no secret that the number of cars in Malta has continued to ramp up over the years, now topping 420,000 with a daily increase of around 30 new cars being added to the roads each day. National Statistics Office data released last year, showed this was equivalent to over 18,000 vehicles for each square kilometre of road in Malta.
What we truly need now is to move from the rhetoric to action - why there are only 7% of the transport fleet truly E.V? Why are there no public bill boards hosted by the health ministry cautioning us about the carcinogenic air in traffic jams? One expects, in an over-crowded island, to see more funds directed towards cancer prevention, which can diminish so much suffering and premature deaths. Just as important is the availability and accessibility of cancer drugs through fair pricing.
Together, we can strive for a generation free from tobacco use, while increasing the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources, thereby reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity production. Reducing environmental pollution will certainly reduce exposure to carcinogenic substances and radiation.
gmm@pkfmalta.com
George M. Mangion is senior partner with PKF Malta