2nd International Conference on the Palestinian Environment

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Research Title: 
The Impact of Israeli Industrial Zone on Environmental and Human Health in Tulkarm City
Authors: 
Suleiman Al-Khalil
Authors: 
Issam Qasem
Country: 
Palestine
Date: 
Tue, 2009-10-06
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The_Impact_of_Israeli_Industrial_Zone_on_Environmental_and_Human_Health_in_Tulkarm_City.pdf191.81 KB
Research Abstract: 

In almost all! Palestinian districts, urban air pollution is worsening in rapidly growing cities, more traffic on roads, use of dirty files, reliance on outdated industrial oppresses , growing energy consumption, increasing the number o f quarries and stone !cutting factories and lack of industrial zoning and environmental regulations are all contributing in reducing urban air quality and deteriorating public health. The main sources of air pollution are energy production, transportation and industry. Most of the energy! production facilities are located in Israel and then electricity is imported to Palestine. This means that air pollution from power stations is negligible in Palestine, however, other pollution source including quarries, chemical , textile, leather, plastic, painting, building constriction and several other industries are consi dered as the major source of pollution 1.Dense vehicular traffic is also a major contributor to air pollution, causing high nitrogen oxide ( NOx ) concentrations, especially i n the heavily populated urban centres . The problem is irritated by the operation of diesel-power buses and trucks. Increased motorization has had a major impact on the deterioration of air quality. In Tulkarm district most industries are is the earl y stage and contribute little to the deterioration air quality except for stone ! cutting factories, which is expected to produce large quantities of micro suspended particles. Moreover, due to the location of the Tulkarm City n ear the borders with "Israel", high amounts of pollutants emitted from industrial areas in "Israel" reach this district and complicate the problem of air pollution there. Many Israel industrial villages ( Kibbutzim), which contain dense, industrial activities, are located near Tulkarm district. They emit their pollutants into the atmosphere due to the absence o f safety measures in these industries like filtration, which implies large quantities of fine dust or metallic dust spreading in the area. In addition to that the "Israel" government moved several industries during late 1980 next to residential areas west of Tulkarm city. The creation of this zone worsens the situation in the area and the current study aimed to evaluate its impact on human health and to assess the possible hazardous of Israeli industrial zone on human health in target area, also to shed light on major causes of disease borne due to air pollution on the target zone in comparison to control area zone.