With the continuation of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, residents face dangers resulting from the remnants of bombs and buildings scattered everywhere in the Strip, which affect the body in general and the respiratory system in particular. What are the most prominent of these effects? Does it include cancer?
On this topic, Tel Aviv Tribune Net interviewed Dr. Muhammad Hassan Al-Tarawneh, a consultant in chest and respiratory diseases, an expert in respiratory infections, and a representative of the European-Middle Eastern International Medical Association in Jordan.
How does the war affect the health of Gazans?
The Gaza Strip is witnessing the dropping of a huge amount of explosives in light of the Israeli aggression, and this war can leave a toxic environmental impact and cause untold damage to human health.
Violent conflicts cause significant environmental damage, polluting air, water and soil, and harming human health in the long term.
What toxic waste does the war bring to the Gaza Strip?
Waste includes:
How do remnants of war affect the health of Gazans?
Toxic remnants of war can lead to many harmful health effects in humans.
In Vietnam, research suggests a significant increase in the risk of birth defects among children of parents exposed to Agent Orange. In some locations, extremely high levels of dioxins have been found in soil, sediments and foods, as well as in human breast milk and blood.
Agent Orange is a substance that the Americans used in their war with Vietnam, and it continues to cause children to be born with birth defects, cancer, and disabilities.
American forces sprayed eighty million liters of Agent Orange over South Vietnam between 1962 and 1971, an herbicide and defoliant, in a desperate attempt to expel the communist militias from their hideouts and deprive them of food.
In Gaza, elevated amounts of heavy metals have been identified in mothers and newborns exposed to military attacks. Also in Gaza, birth defects have been linked to exposure to white phosphorus and other bombs containing toxic and carcinogenic metals.
Will we see an increase in cancer rates among Gazans?
Yes, because air pollution due to suspended particles resulting from explosives increases the possibility of lung cancer.
How does bomb and missile smoke affect the respiratory system?
Shells and missiles contain materials such as gunpowder and explosives, and when they explode and burn, they emit carbon gases that affect the respiratory system.
The bombing leads to the emission of many gases into the atmosphere, as well as the collapse of buildings, which negatively affects the respiratory system, in addition to the presence of particles and other substances whose concentration in the air increases.
Children are affected more than others because their respiratory system is in the process of growth and formation and is not yet complete. Therefore, they are exposed to respiratory system deformities and chronic damage related to the inhalation of smoke, particles, and fungi.
Exposure to incendiary materials during bombing destroys the mucous membranes in the respiratory system. We cannot ignore the phosphorus bombs that the occupation army dropped on Gaza several times.
White phosphorus is part of the internationally banned “incendiary weapons.” It is a chemical substance that resembles wax, and is often yellow or intensely white in color. When this phosphorus reacts with oxygen, it ignites and burns, producing smoke.
This weapon is banned by the United Nations, according to the 1980 Geneva Convention, which prohibits its use as an incendiary weapon against humans and the environment.
The big problem in Gaza is related to thermal damage to the respiratory system. White phosphorus produces heat that burns the skin and reaches the bone. Therefore, it is banned internationally, because it harms the population to high and unacceptable degrees.
White phosphorus has disastrous effects on the respiratory system, as it causes it to burn and burn the bronchi, and leads to tumors in the pharynx and bronchi, in addition to direct and long-term damage related to the inhalation of high-temperature vapors, which leads to second and third degree burns, and causes a great long-term danger. The extent is no less than the effects of chemical warfare and bombs.
How does breathing in debris from the destruction of buildings in Gaza affect the health of Gazans?
The destruction of buildings due to bombing causes the emission of dust and dirt from stone and cement, and causes people to inhale fine particles from building materials, which leads to reactions on the respiratory system.
There are types of fungi, such as Aspergillus, found in construction sites. People inhale them and they greatly harm the respiratory system, and may lead to chronic respiratory diseases for groups most at risk, such as patients with chronic diseases.
What respiratory diseases are expected to spread in Gaza?
It seems that the residents of Gaza are facing another health risk caused by overcrowding in shelters, hospitals, and others. Many respiratory diseases may be transmitted through the air, such as tuberculosis, bacterial and viral respiratory diseases, and they appear due to overcrowding inside closed spaces, in addition to the lack of access to health care for the displaced in a short period of time, as a result of Collapse of the health system.
The targeting of health facilities, and the inability of people to reach them, leads to a deterioration in the health condition and increases the possibility of disease outbreaks.
Pressure waves
The Conflict and Environment Observatory says that when buildings are directly hit by munitions or damaged by pressure waves resulting from explosions, building materials crush, generating large amounts of dust.
The resulting dust is usually a heterogeneous mixture of materials, such as cement, metals, PCBs, silica, asbestos, and other synthetic fibers.
Exposure to these dusts can have physical and chemical effects on health. Particulate matter (PM) that is less than 10 micrometers in size or less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter can pose significant health risks from respiratory diseases and diseases as well as cancer.
Direct effects of exposure to building collapse dust include irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and skin. If the dust is inhaled and trapped inside the lungs, exposure to the dust may lead to pneumoconiosis, a more serious threat to long-term respiratory health. This disease is usually documented in occupational workers who are exposed to airborne dust for long periods of time. However, acute pneumoconiosis can occur when there is a significant release of dust over a short period of time.
The observatory adds that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can also occur as a result of intense exposure to dust. This poses a long-term health risk to civilians who continue to live close to conflict-affected buildings or rubble. COPD can include asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema among other respiratory complaints.