(Live here with Haifa Bay) - According to a new study by the chief scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the blood of the residents of Haifa Bay and the surrounding area contains lower levels of arsenic and cadmium and higher levels of chromium and lead.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Soroka University Medical Center stated:
Findings of a new study on behalf of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and with the financial support of the Ministry, carried out by the Soroka University Medical Center and in cooperation with the Blood Services Center of Magen David Adom, the National Public Health Laboratory and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev:
Blood donors from Haifa had lower blood levels of arsenic and cadmium and higher levels of chromium and lead, compared to donors from the rest of the country; The concentrations of the metals found in the study are similar and sometimes even lower than found in the general population in Europe.

Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman:
"The Ministry of Environmental Protection promotes research in the field of health and the environment, the results of which contribute to the creation of an up-to-date picture and understanding of the impact of environmental factors on health. The polluting industry must be removed from the population concentrations, in order to preserve the health of the residents and the quality of life and the environment, and we are working to this end, among other things, by implementing a decision The government to evacuate the petrochemical industry from Haifa Bay."
Differentiate between blood and blood
A new study with the support and funding of the Ministry of Environmental Protection examined the concentrations of metals in the blood of Haifa Bay residents, compared to the general population in Israel. The study was carried out by the Clinical Research Center at Soroka Hospital, in collaboration with the Blood Services Center of Magen David Adom, the National Public Health Laboratory and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The study was conducted between the years 2020-2022 on samples taken from volunteer blood donors of the MDA blood services, after obtaining their consent. The results of the study showed that donors from Haifa had lower levels of arsenic and cadmium, and higher levels of chromium and lead, compared to donors from the rest of the country.
The study also shows that the concentrations of all the metals measured in the blood of the subjects in Israel are at the lower end of the scale and sometimes even lower than the concentrations reported from the European Union countries. The comparisons were made against a report by the World Health Organization from 2015 and the publications of the European Union for Biological Monitoring, HBM4EU, from 2022.
The results of the research are published as part of a call by the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. The research was led by Prof. Lena Novak from the Soroka Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, together with Prof. Eilat Shanar, Dr. Asher Moser and Dr. Eliezer Yaffe from the Blood Services Center of Magen David Adom, Prof. Itai Kellogg from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Lior Hassan from the Soroka Medical Center. The researchers collaborated with Dr. Efrat Rorman and Dr. Luda Groysman from the National Public Health Laboratory.
This research is in accordance with section 10 of the government's decision to reduce air pollution and reduce environmental risks in the Haifa Bay area from 2015.
In the last decade, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has been working hard to significantly reduce emissions of polluting substances in the Haifa Bay. Among other things, the ministry led the national plan to reduce air pollution in Haifa Bay between 2015 and 2020.
Over the years, there has been a significant improvement in the air quality in Haifa Bay: during the years of the program, there was a 56% reduction in emissions of volatile organic pollutants in Haifa Bay - which include carcinogenic substances. The plan emphasized the emissions of these pollutants and even succeeded in exceeding the target set (which was 48% in relation to emissions in 2014).
Over the years, the office carries out supervision and enforcement against the factories, which include hearings, warnings, orders and financial sanctions for violations. According to the environmental protection ministry's 2021 level report, cumulative reductions in the emission of pollutants into the air of 50% to 94% occurred in Haifa Bay from 2012 to 2021, depending on the pollutant.
"The regulators fell asleep on guard and we are dying here in Haifa"
This is what the chairman of the Green faction, Avihu Han, said this morning, referring to the publication of the study.

Hahn also added:
"We the Greens have been fighting for many years to remove the polluting factories from the Haifa metropolis.
For years we have been exposed to studies on excess morbidity in the area, compared to the national average, and it is clear to us that the polluting factories, led by the Bezan complex, are the causes of this terrible reality.
The additional study by the Ministry of National Education from 2020 to 2022 strengthens our claims that nothing has changed.
The infection continues and brings with it morbidity and death. The regulators fell asleep on guard and we are dying here in Haifa.
I demand that the Israeli government immediately reduce the scope of refining in Haifa Bay, act immediately for strict enforcement against malfunctions and leaks, and act to reduce the timetables for the evacuation of the Zan and 501 tanks from Haifa Bay.
Expansion on the study:
The study examined the presence of heavy metal concentrations in human blood, with the aim of evaluating the relationship between metal concentrations and environmental exposures and air pollution. All findings were adjusted for measures such as age, gender and smoking.
The study was conducted between March 2020 and February 2022 on blood samples to compare concentrations of heavy metals among blood donors living in the Haifa Bay area compared to donors from other areas in Israel. As part of the research, 4 types of metals were tested - arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb).
The samples were taken from healthy volunteer blood donors among the blood donors of the blood services of Magen David Adom. The study population included a random, unidentified sample of civilian blood donors who donated blood in the Haifa Bay area, versus samples from the rest of the country. The places of residence of the donors and the locations of the donation sites were combined with the levels of pollutants in the air recorded by the nearby monitoring stations. During the research, 6,230 samples were located, of which 911 samples were tested. It should be noted that the samples were taken from the set of routine blood donation tests and did not form part of the blood units themselves. The concentrations of the metals found were similar and even lower than the concentrations measured in the general population in Europe.
According to the results of the study, blood donors from the Haifa Bay area are characterized by low levels of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd), and high levels of chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb), compared to donors from the rest of the country. In addition, it was found that among the donors there is a positive correlation between the lead concentrations in the blood and the concentrations in the environment of the pollutants PM10, CO and SO2.
A blood test is not enough. where do they work What happens to the lungs and bones? What about the metals that are in the food, in old pots with lead, old spoons, nickel chrome knives, forks and the like? Is it possible to link to the study to understand if it is serious at all?
So lower apartment prices per floor. But in Israel as in Israel.. oh no.. they immigrate
Haifa - the "hole" of the State of Israel. They are giving us cancer for a handful of tycoons
If they found a lot of iron they could say that Haifa is Iron Man and Iron Woman
Only an ass can feel like an ass hole…
Who is forcing you to live in Haifa, come on, move to another city...
Some of the residents here are like "knocked and crying" cats...
Sillman specializes in poison and not heavy metals.
In conclusion...what does all this SHEET mean?? Is it possible to finally sue all these polluting factories, relying on this Khmer???!!!!
Haifa has the most adults in the country after Bat Yam.
How does it manage all the time with the scares about morbidity as a result of infection, etc.?
You have to remember that the city is huge and built on a mountain and nature and has north and northwest winds mostly from the sea.
In the center of the country there are so many roads and cars, is the air that clear there?
does not reflect anything. If I am a student who transferred an address to Kiryat Haim, I gave blood a year ago. I grew up in Be'er Sheva, what does that mean? Something about the chilly air? And if I immigrate from Russia who lived for five years only in Nasher? Or a soldier who donated blood and whose family moved from Carmel to Kiryat Yam? Or Haifai but lived in the US for half his life? Or did he not change his address from his parents' Kiryat Bialik apartment and actually live in Mitzpe in the Galilee? He cut short a study that is difficult to say if anything can be concluded from it.
So only a nickel is missing?
Well, of course that's the case in Haifa... After all, there are only false records at the entrance to the city stating: "Vehicles emitting smoke do not enter Haifa" - and who checks them?
Just yesterday I drove to Teher a car whose name was shocked by black smoke... and what?
Haifa residents must take a loan and leave the country
And who will give a loan for a loan? And who said that somewhere else would be better? There will be something else unbearable...