10 COMMENTARY Thursday 12th February - Wednesday 18th February, 2015 By Dr Martin Forde Pollution: silent but deadly Quick question for you: What kills more people than Ebola, tuberculosis, malar- ia, and HIV/AIDS combined every year around the world? To help you answer this question here are some data. In 2014, it is estimated that Ebo- la claimed the lives of about 8,000 persons; malaria 600,000 per- sons; HIV/AIDS 1.5 million persons; and tuberculosis about 900,000 individuals. Yet, as tragic as those numbers are, they pale when compared to the carnage caused by an- other very deadly, but apparently silent kill- er, which lurks in ev- ery corner of our plan- et: pollution. According to data recently released by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (http://www.gahp.net/ new/), pollution alone killed over 8.9 million persons in 2012. You might wonder if this igure has gone down for 2013 and 2014. While the data hasn’t yet been released, giv- en that our behaviours and the ways in which we treat our environ- ment haven’t changed for the better, one would have to sadly conclude that similar numbers died due to pollution in both of these years or possi- bly even more. Thus, if we were to add up all those who have been killed by pollution in just the last 10 years, one would arrive at a truly staggering num- ber of over 89 million persons! That number simply deies comprehension. Unlike infectious dis- eases such as Ebola or HIV/AIDS, where we can readily see the effects these viruses have on the human body, pollution is not quite so readily seen or registered on our consciousnesses. And even when we do see this great enemy of ours, such as when we see polluted waters, or breathe in dirty air, or eat contaminated food, we somehow tend to limit pollution’s scope to cause harm to just getting sick or discom- forted. So, yes, while many will agree that pollution isn’t good for one’s health, it being classiied as a major cause of death seems to be a bit far-fetched for most to compre- hend and accept. And yet these num- bers are real and can’t hide the following fact: pollution kills humans, and in very, very large numbers each year. What is even more troubling is that by far the great- est proportion of these deaths occurs in low- and middle-income countries. Of the 8.9 million persons who succumbed to the ef- fects of pollution in 2012, almost 95% came from low- and middle-in- come coun- tries, of which category Gre- nada and most of its Caribbe- an sister and brother islands fall into. Before we go any further, the question some might be ask- ing is: Exactly what is pollu- tion? Deined from a human perspective, pollution is anything that contaminates one of the three main ingre- dients – air, water, and food – to human life and well-being. It, thus, shouldn’t be too dificult to compre- hend how drinking dirty water, or breath- ing in noxious air, or eating food that has been polluted, can and does do bad things to us humans. Besides killing us, pollution can cause us – humans – many other miseries. For example, many dis- eases such as cancer, immune system disor- ders, and heart disease can be directly linked to the adverse effects of being exposed to pollution. Particularly worry- ing is that our polluted environment has been found to have pro- found adverse health effects on developing babies and young chil- dren. Many pollutants such as mercury, for example, have been found by researchers to cause birth defects and developmental and neurological dis- abilities in the most vulnerable segment of our species, our chil- dren. Here in Grenada, as much as we would have hoped to avoid the scourge of pollu- tion, we unfortunately have not been spared. Take, for example, the potent neuro-toxicant pollutant mercury. In a study done by my- self and several other researchers, we found that the level of mercu- ry in pregnant women living in Grenada was the highest of 10 Ca- ribbean islands, when we analyzed the blood of pregnant women for this toxicant. The obvious ques- tion that arises is how and from where did our Grenadian women get mercury into their bodies and then ulti- mately into their de- veloping babies? The most likely answer is from eating ish! Now, it is well documented that eating ish is a far better choice to make for sourcing our need for protein, and in the case of a developing fetus, getting essential Omega-3 fatty oils to the baby’s brain. How ironic – and tragic! – then, that this very source of food can and does also expose us to this potent neurotoxin. Now that we have un- masked this silent but very deadly killer that lurks in our midst, the obvious question that arises is what do we do about it? Well, irst- ly, we should make an assessment of what we are personally doing to the environment, of which we are priv- ileged to live in and enjoy. If any of our current practices and behaviours are caus- ing the air, water, or land to be damaged or contaminated, then we need to immediately ‘cease and desist.’ Secondly, we need to consciously prior- itize in our minds – and then actions – the need to clean up – and then keep clean of pol- lutants – our environ- ment. Really, the fact that pollution kills mil- lions each year is not an unavoidable, in- evitable fate that hu- manity must accept as being unchangeable. Indeed, how many persons pollution kills or makes sick this year will be determined by us! We, as a society, could decide that this level of carnage on our species is simply not acceptable and bring this number down to zero. Will we? At the end of 2015, the cold, hard num- bers will tell the tale of whether we took this ‘silent’ killer seriously or ignored him – yet again! Dr Martin Forde is a professor of Envi- ronmental & Occu- pational Health at St George’s University High mercury levels in Grenadian women Pollution Deaths versus other major causes. Source gahp.net