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TOXIC AIR POLLUTION
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Victoria Government Should Evacuate Morwell 

Officials have upgraded health warning for Hazelwood coal mine fire after nearly a month of burning, instead of evacuating the town.

Heath authorities have recommended the elderly, pregnant women, those with respiratory problems and children to leave the town.

Particulate matter, which can cause heart attacks and lung cancer, is currently 11 times Australia’s daily threshold near South Morwell [Population: 14,000], about 150 km east of Melbourne [Population: 4.25million,] Australia’s 2nd largest city.

“Morwell on Fire.” Apocalyptic fumes blanket the town of Morwell in Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia.  Screenshot from a news clip by abc.net.au

“We are now into the third week and we know that continued exposure to the smoke increases the risk of bad health outcomes,” said Dr Rosemary Lester, Victoria State’s chief health officer.

“We are not currently seeing serious health effects from the smoke, such as an increase in ambulance callouts or hospital attendances,” she said.

“Health impacts may change if vulnerable people continue to be exposed to smoke.”

At this stage officials say it is not an evacuation and they are making the recommendation as a precaution.

Locals joining reporters at a media conference on Friday were sceptical of Dr Lester’s confidence that the health of the broader community is unlikely to suffer as the crisis drags on.

“I’m 25-years-old, yesterday I spent five minutes in the smoke outside, I could not see for one hour,” one Morwell resident said.

Dr Lester replied: “Because we know now that the exposure is likely to continue we think that now is the right time to increase the advice to temporary relocation.” [abc.net.au]

However, a study published in the British Medical Journal in January, found even small increase in the PM2.5 particulate matter can lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and lung cancer.

The concentration of PM2.5 in the air reached 280 micrograms per cubic meter in Morwell South on Thursday, or 11 times Australia’s daily threshold, said a report.

The study’s lead researcher, Guilia Cesaroni from the Department of Epidemiology at Rome’s regional health service, studied more than 100,000 people in five European cities over a decade.

“We found an association between increased levels of PM2.5 and mortality and also with incidence of lung cancer,” she said.

Dr Cesaroni found an increase in annual exposure to PM2.5 of just 5 micrograms per cubic metre means a 13 per cent increased risk of heart attack.

She calls the Morwell reading of 280 micrograms per cubic metre “a huge level”.

Dr Cesaroni says it would lead to more hospital admissions and, if the area is largely populated, “an excess in mortality” if the readings continue for a month or more.

“For sure there will be an increase in the annual average, but at the moment I would be more worried about the immediate effect,” she said.

The fires at the Hazelwood and Yallourn coal mines were ignited on February 9, and have been burning since.

Forecasters say the fire could burn for at least another 10 days due to the windy, dry weather.

Related Links

• Morwell Could Catch Fire February 22, 2014
• Australian Disasters [links index page]
• More Australian Coal, Anyone? Posted on January 31, 2011

14 Million Cancer Cases Reported Globally

Cancer cases jump by more than 10 percent since 2008: WHO

Total number of victims being diagnosed with cancer globally each year has jumped from 12.7 million in 2008 to more than 14 million last year, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

The number of deaths has also risen during that period, from 7.6 million to 8.2 million.

Lung cancer is identified as the most common cancer, about 13% of the total, with more than 1.8 million cases reported globally, followed by stomach, liver, colorectal, breast and cervical cancer.

Chest x-ray of lung cancer, the leading cause of death among cancer victims.

Since 2008, a sharp increase in cases of breast cancer, both the incidence and mortality,   has made the disease the most common cancer in women across 140 countries, said WHO.

“Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death in the less developed countries of the world,” said a spokesman for WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

“This is partly because a shift in lifestyles is causing an increase in incidence, and partly because clinical advances to combat the disease are not reaching women living in these regions.”

Key facts (WHO, 2008)

• Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008.

• Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.

• The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.

• About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the five leading behavioral and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use.

• Tobacco use is the most important risk factor for cancer causing 22% of global cancer deaths and 71% of global lung cancer deaths.

• Cancer causing viral infections such as HBV/HCV and HPV are responsible for up to 20% of cancer deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

• About 70% of all cancer deaths in 2008 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

• Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue rising.
• More than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by modifying or avoiding key risk factors, including:
  • tobacco use
  • being overweight or obese
  • unhealthy diet with low fruit and vegetable intake
  • lack of physical activity
  • alcohol use
  • sexually transmitted HPV-infection
  • urban air pollution
  • indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels.

Causes of Cancer (WHO Fact Sheet 2008)

Cancer arises from one single cell. The transformation from a normal cell into a tumour cell is a multistage process, typically a progression from a pre-cancerous lesion to malignant tumours. These changes are the result of the interaction between a person’s genetic factors and three categories of external agents, including

• Physical carcinogens: Ultraviolet and ionizing radiation.
• Chemical carcinogens: Asbestos, components of tobacco smoke, aflatoxin (a food contaminant) and arsenic (a drinking water contaminant).
• Biological carcinogens:  Infections from certain viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Iron Range death toll from mesothelioma rises

82 Iron Rangers die from rare form of lung cancer

At least 19 more people have died from the deadly lung cancer mesothelioma since the 63 reported by Minnesota state health officials in 2010.

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Disaster Calendar 2011 – October 18

[October 18, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,611 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Iron Range (Minnesota), USA. At least 19 more people have died from mesothelioma, a rare and always fatal form of lung cancer, since the 63 reported by Minnesota state health officials last year.
• Caused only by exposure to asbestos fibers, mesothelioma takes about 30 years after exposure to show up.
• Previously it was believed that the Iron Range mesothelioma cases were caused by exposure to commercial asbestos, however, researchers now say that asbestos-like fibers from mining taconite rocks may be responsible for the  fatal disease.
• “Early results also show that 1,681 taconite workers, of about 46,000 who ever worked in the industry, developed some sort of lung cancer. Again, it’s not clear if that rate is higher than normal, and it may never be clear if the cancers were caused by exposure to taconite dust, smoking or a combination of factors.” Said a report.
• “It’s estimated about 80,000 workers have been involved in mining since the first operations began in Minnesota in the late 1800s. Researchers are focusing on the roughly 46,000 people born since 1920 who worked in the production of taconite — a low-concentrate iron ore that has been mined and processed in Minnesota since the 1950s.”

Other Disasters

• Punjab, Pakistan. Death toll from dengue fever in Lahore has climbed to 274, a report said.
• About 28,400 cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab, with more than 17,000 in Lahore alone, the report said.
• Currently more than 330 cases of infection are reported daily.
• Bangkok, Thailand. Death toll from flooding in Thailand has climbed to at least 315, amid growing fears that flood barriers protecting the capital Bangkok will fail, reports said.
• Flooding has affected about half a million square kilometer of Thailand (total area: 513,115 sq km).
• More than a million homes have been destroyed or damaged by flooding, affecting up to 10 million people in 61 of Thailand’s 77 provinces.
• Floodwaters have also inundated “14,172 factories in 20 provinces, affecting 663,218 workers,” according to a senior official.
• Floods have forced about 10 large industrial parks employing a total of more than a million to close.
• About 270,000 workers and residents have been evacuated from the Navanakorn industrial park, located north of Bangkok, after flood protection barriers failed swamping the large estate. The industrial estate was declared “safe” by the authorities on Monday.
• Vietnam. Death toll from has climbed to at last 55 from devastating floods in central and southern provinces of Vietnam, with dozens of people reported injured.
• Record flooding caused by the Mekong river have inundated about 200,000 buildings, “damaging 1,455 km of dykes and 1,300 km of roads,” and destroying tens of thousands of hectares of rice paddies, aquatic farms, sugarcane fields and other cropland, reports said.
• At least 50,000 people have been evacuated from various provinces.
• Central America. Two separate low-pressure weather systems are wreaking havoc across Central America, one moving from the Pacific and the other from the Caribbean. The combined reported death toll from torrential rains, flooding and mudslides in Central America  (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua) and Mexico is reaching 100.
• At least 750,000 people have been displaced as up to 120cm (~ 47 inches) of rain is dumped over the region since last week.
• Honduras. Honduran government has declared a state of emergency in the southern portion of the country.
• Nicaragua. Nicaraguan President has declared a state of emergency as 130,000 people are evacuated. The capital Managua is threatened by flooding as Lake Xolotlan continues to overflow.
• Guatemala. Reported death toll from flooding in Guatemala has climbed to at least 38. The toll is expected to rise, officials said.
• El Salvador. About 40 people are reported dead or missing, with 35,000 others evacuated so far as the government declares a “major emergency.”

Related Links

• Death Tolls Climbing in SE Asia Flooding ‎
• Thailand Flooding at ‘Crisis Level’
• Storms, Flooding Kill Hundreds in Asia

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities  (EDRO Forecast)
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)

• 2011 Disaster Calendar – October
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – September
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar