Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516790
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MARCH 2024 NEWS MINISTERU GHALL-EKONOMIJA, L-INTRAPRIŻA U PROGETTI STRATEGICI SPIKKA BIT-TRADEMARK DISTINTIVA TIEGĦEK U RREĠISTRAHA Better diet or less fireworks? additional exposure to people living in areas where potable water is sourced from both groundwater and seawater. Recent studies by chemists Alfred Vella and Colette Pace have revealed significantly el- evated levels of perchlorate in both atmospheric and indoor dust, with some areas exceed- ing recommended limits as determined by the European Food Safety Authority. Perchlorate was also found above the detection limit in 44% of groundwater samples tested and 62% of run-off sam- ples collected during the first storms after. The study also revealed that localities in the southern area of Malta had an overall higher concentration of perchlorate in dust fall compared to localities in the northern region, with higher levels persisting during the summer and lower concen- trations during other seasons. In contrast, the current study shows that suburban areas in the western and northern re- gions, rather than the south- ern regions, report the highest incidences of hypothyroidism. One possible reason suggest- ed by the authors could be that residents in these areas, including farming communi- ties, tend to consume more locally grown produce poten- tially contaminated with per- chlorate. Further research on consumption patterns in these localities is warranted. Surprisingly, these results were not replicated in Gozo, where farming is more wide- spread than in Malta. This difference could indicate vari- ations in the scale of firework fallout or in the use of food packaging, which is another potential source of perchlorate. So far there is no clear expla- nation for the statistically sig- nificant lower levels of hypo- thyroidism in some localities. In fact the latest study con- cludes that the lower hypothy- roid incidence rates in Gozo now warrants a comparative study "to establish whether this difference is attributable to differing levels of perchlo- rate exposure from different scale of firework use". The study was written by Ta- nia Cardona from the Super- intendence of Public Health, Ian Brincat from the Univer- sity's Department of Patholo- gy, Neville Calleja from Public Health Department, and Rob- erto Debono, a specialist in Public Health Medicine. District Average annual number of new cases Incidence rate per 100,000 population South Harbour 926 1425 Noth Harbour 1378 1255 South Eastern 677 1330 Western 680 1447 Northern 748 1476 Gozo 291 1173