An epidemiological study: when and how?

Following in the footsteps of our good friend Sancho over at Tilting at Windmills (who in a recent post warns that 25% of Spaniards will get cancer), we too are posting this YouTube video that is titled: ‘Verdemar. Epidemiological Studies: Where and How?’ It is, as you will see, in Spanish, so we offer a translation/summary below.>

Behind me is the largest industrial estate in Andalucía, right here in the Campo de Gibraltar, and the cause of all the health and environmental problems in the Campo. Or that’s what we think, at any rate. One of constant demands for the last twenty years is an Epidemiological Study, which has as yet not been done despite the fact that the Junta’s Health Council insists that it has. As far as we know, a proper study would take between twenty and thirty years to be of any scientific use. The Council says it has carried out six studies in four years. We are also surprised by the fact that the Council has not yet been able to take 2,200 blood samples throughout the Campo, which is the ideal number recomended by the national government’s Science Council in May, 2005. Tis analysis would tell us what level of benzine and nickel there is in our blood stream. These two contaminants, according to the Science Council, come principally from the Cepsa oil refinery (benzine) and the Acerinox factory (nickel) and are some of the most aggressive contaminants that affect the health of all residents of the Campo de Gibraltar. But the Junta’s Health Council has done absolutely nothing about it. In our opinion and within our ignorance, the studies the Junta has carried out thus far are mere probes that tell us very little about the state of our health. However, official and independent statistics tell us that life expectancy is lower in the Campo than in the rest of Spain. The causes, they say, are different to those we are seeking to find out.