50% of Haifa child cancers pollution-linked

14 April 2015, 7:43 pm

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A new report from the Health Ministry revealed that half of the cases of pediatric cancer in Haifa between 1998 and 2007 are linked to air pollution.

Incidents of cancer were also 16 percent higher in Haifa than the national average during those years, it says, in 16 out of the 18 variations of the disease that were studied.

Residents of Haifa were 29% more likely to develop lung cancer than Israelis in other cities, and 26% more likely to be diagnosed with bladder cancer.

The ministry believes that of the 4,860 cancer cases reported in Haifa in those years, 780 are related to the high pollution levels in the coastal city. Among children, there were 60 cases — 30 of them developing due to exposure to pollution.