Dear Editor,

I have read concerns by Dr Colette Cunningham-Myrie, of the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, in the Jamaica Observer with regard to a health survey conducted by the undersigned for the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET).

While it is tedious for the general public to have to wade through charge and counter charge with regard to research methodology, Dr Cunningham-Myrie has called into question the results of my study, so I feel compelled to respond.

It is mystifying that, as an epidemiologist, her concerns seem to be overwhelmingly for the mining and quarrying companies and not for the public health of communities. We would like to see the previous studies done in mining communities referred to and hope Dr Cunningham-Myrie will send them to us.

It is interesting that she seeks to blame other sources of air pollution, such as cane burning – this has long been the position of the mining companies: It isn’t us. There is no getting around the results of our interviews in the control areas, however – they experience far less air pollution and health impacts than those in proximity to mining and quarrying communities.

The three communities were selected because JET has been working with them over many years. They have tried to get the regulatory agencies to take action to improve the situation in their areas without success. JET sought and received funding for a study to assess health conditions to see if such a study might influence the regulators to act. Because of the self-selection and limitations of time and budget, we are aware our study might not meet some of the rigorous standards required for peer review or extrapolating our results to other places. That notwithstanding, we stand by our findings: that (a) people who live within a mile of the mining or quarrying operations studied experience a range of adverse health impacts and (b) the National Environment and Planning Agency’s air quality standards are insufficient to protect public health.

Our research did not invent these results and the levels of air pollution reported are above World Health Organization guidelines.

I could question Dr Cunningham-Myrie’s motives and experience with air pollution studies in a similar manner as she has done mine, but I am focused on the real suffering of human beings in these communities. I challenge her to a public debate inside the affected communities and look forward to her explanation to them that they are experiencing neither air pollution nor public health impacts.

Dr Homero Silva

Professor of public health, environment and climate change

School of Public Health and Health Technology

University of Technology, Jamaica