Dutch News reported that Netherlands’ Municipal Health Service GGD regional health board in a recent report said that heart disease & high blood pressure are more prevalent in people living in the vicinity of the Tata steelworks in Ijmuiden in Netherland, which for the first time directly links this to fine particle emission from the plant. The GGD based its latest health monitor for the IJmond area on figures from 2020. People who live near the plant are also likely to use more medication and feel less healthy than four years ago. This is the first time the GGD has linked contamination from the plant with the above-average incidence of health conditions. But the GGD has now said that even taking into account socio-economic status and factors such as drinking and smoking, the incidence of chronic heart conditions is higher in people from IJmuiden, Velsen, and parts of Beverwijk than in people from outside the IJmond. Stress about the situation is also a likely contributory factor. It has called for reductions in emissions to improve local air quality. GGD Kennemerland director M Bert van de Velden said “It is time for more action. Health ambitions need to become a structural part of planning policy.”Tata Steel said it is working hard to lessen its impact on the environment. It said “The results of the recent investments of ‘hundreds of millions’ in dust reducing screens, filters and other measures are not yet visible in the GGD report but will lead to a 65% reduction in dust fallout, a 35% reduction in fine particles and a cut of 55% of heavy metal emissions next year, the company claimed. Last year Tata Steel announced it will be using hydrogen as a source of energy to become a ‘green steel manufacturer in a clean environment’ by 2030.”Public health institute RIVM had concluded in January 2022 that the air around Tata Steel contained enough PAHs and lead to pose a danger of cancer and brain damage, particularly in children prompting the public prosecutor to start a criminal probe into Tata Steel pollution.People who live close to the Tata Steel factory are more often given medicines for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes than people outside the IJmond region, the RIVM concluded after research. According to the health institute, residents of Beverwijk and Velsen are prescribed these medicines 11 to 16 percent more often. Adult residents are also 5 to 10% more likely to be treated for respiratory diseases. Children are not more likely to get medicine for respiratory diseases.Netherlands’ Municipal Health Service GGD is a decentralised public health organisation. Legally, the responsibility for the provision of this service lies with the municipalities. However, in practice, the municipalities work together to provide this service at a regional level, resulting in twenty-five GGD regions. The borders of the GGD regions largely correspond to the borders of the safety regions. GGD GHOR Nederland is the national umbrella organisation of the twenty-five Municipal Health Services and Regional Medical Assistance Organisations
Dutch News reported that Netherlands’ Municipal Health Service GGD regional health board in a recent report said that heart disease & high blood pressure are more prevalent in people living in the vicinity of the Tata steelworks in Ijmuiden in Netherland, which for the first time directly links this to fine particle emission from the plant. The GGD based its latest health monitor for the IJmond area on figures from 2020. People who live near the plant are also likely to use more medication and feel less healthy than four years ago. This is the first time the GGD has linked contamination from the plant with the above-average incidence of health conditions. But the GGD has now said that even taking into account socio-economic status and factors such as drinking and smoking, the incidence of chronic heart conditions is higher in people from IJmuiden, Velsen, and parts of Beverwijk than in people from outside the IJmond. Stress about the situation is also a likely contributory factor. It has called for reductions in emissions to improve local air quality. GGD Kennemerland director M Bert van de Velden said “It is time for more action. Health ambitions need to become a structural part of planning policy.”Tata Steel said it is working hard to lessen its impact on the environment. It said “The results of the recent investments of ‘hundreds of millions’ in dust reducing screens, filters and other measures are not yet visible in the GGD report but will lead to a 65% reduction in dust fallout, a 35% reduction in fine particles and a cut of 55% of heavy metal emissions next year, the company claimed. Last year Tata Steel announced it will be using hydrogen as a source of energy to become a ‘green steel manufacturer in a clean environment’ by 2030.”Public health institute RIVM had concluded in January 2022 that the air around Tata Steel contained enough PAHs and lead to pose a danger of cancer and brain damage, particularly in children prompting the public prosecutor to start a criminal probe into Tata Steel pollution.People who live close to the Tata Steel factory are more often given medicines for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes than people outside the IJmond region, the RIVM concluded after research. According to the health institute, residents of Beverwijk and Velsen are prescribed these medicines 11 to 16 percent more often. Adult residents are also 5 to 10% more likely to be treated for respiratory diseases. Children are not more likely to get medicine for respiratory diseases.Netherlands’ Municipal Health Service GGD is a decentralised public health organisation. Legally, the responsibility for the provision of this service lies with the municipalities. However, in practice, the municipalities work together to provide this service at a regional level, resulting in twenty-five GGD regions. The borders of the GGD regions largely correspond to the borders of the safety regions. GGD GHOR Nederland is the national umbrella organisation of the twenty-five Municipal Health Services and Regional Medical Assistance Organisations
