Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1275149
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 AUGUST 2020 NEWS The Ministry for Energy and Water Management has issued a request for proposal for a public service concession contract for the design, build, installation, testing, commissioning and operation of 5 Eco Intermodal Hubs across Malta and Gozo. These hubs will be open on a 24/7 basis and will provide the public with an array of information through information kiosks. The hubs will also provide advertising space, recycling through Reverse-Vending Machines and the hiring of electric scooters and bicycles. Interested bidders can obtain more information and are to submit their proposal on the e-tenders.gov.mt website. Request for clarifications on the subject may be submitted in writing at tenders.mew@gov.mt by 7 th August 2020. Call reference is MEW_RFP001/2020. Proposals will be received till 4 th September 2020. JAMES DEBONO CASES of spontaneous pneu- mothorax (SP), a life-threaten- ing condition in patients with severe underlying lung disease, are more common in the har- bour area where residents are exposed to more air pollution, a study published in the journal Xjenza shows. The condition, common among young male asthmatics and smokers, is brought about from the sudden collapse of the lung caused the formation of small sacs of air in the lung tis- sue that rupture, causing air to leak into the pleural space and not by traumatic injury to the chest. According to the study, such cases are far more common in the harbour area. All 112 patients admitted with spontaneous pneumothorax to Mater Dei Hospital, from Janu- ary 2010 to December 2014 were included in the study. According to the study, in- creased air pollution seems to increase the incidence of SP "ei- ther directly or indirectly". The incidence of SP in the harbour area over the five years studied was 43 out of a popu- lation of 103,916 living in the harbour area, which translates into a rate of 8.3 cases per year per 100,000 of the population living in that area. This was far higher than the incidence of 56 out of the 295,407 living outside the harbour area, which trans- lates into a rate of 3.8 per year per 100,000 of the population in the non-harbour area. This difference is deemed to be "very statistically significant". "The difference in incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax between the densely populated, high density traffic and indus- trial harbour area and the more rural areas is very marked and highly significant". 85.7% of patients admitted to hospital for this condition had a history of smoking, while 16 (14.3%) never smoked. But no difference was noted the inci- dence of asthma and tobacco consumption in SP patients liv- ing in the harbour area when compared to the non-harbour area. During the same time period, data provided by the Environ- ment and Resources Authority also showed "a consistent sig- nificant increase in both PM 2.5 and PM 10 and the concentra- tion of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the harbour area". Although other possible un- known confounding factors contributing to this regional difference could not be exclud- ed, the study detects a strong relationship between the qual- ity of the air and the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax. Internationally, the association between air quality and this lung condition has not been studied before except for a study which showed increased incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients living in areas in Turin, Italy which has a high atmos- pheric levels of NO2. The article was written by Jo- seph Galea from the Department of Surgery, Kimberley Grech and Tiziana Parnis from the De- partment of Medicine and stat- istician Liberato Camilleri. Harbour area air pollution linked to high rates of lung collapse Study links higher rates of lung collapse in harbour area to deteriorating air quality between 2010 and 2014 MARKO SLAVOKOVIC