A recent study claims the air quality on Carnival Corporation cruise ships can be worse than some of world’s most polluted cities.
The report, titled “An investigation of air pollution on the decks of 4 cruise ships” was authored by Dr. Ryan Kennedy, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study was commissioned by international environmental organization Stand.earth.
The two-year study sent researchers on four ships undercover to measure the particle counts from the ships’ smokestacks. The researchers report they found a high number of particulates and those fine particles could cause higher rates of cardiovascular disease and asthma if inhaled.
The four cruise ships used in this study were, Holland America MS Amsterdam, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Liberty and Emerald Princess.
Part of their findings, according to the study, show Carnival Freedom had air pollution measurements twice as bad as the measurements in Beijing, China back in 2009.
The Carnival Corporation responded to 10News with this statement below:
These so-called fly-by tests are completely ridiculous, inaccurate and in no way represent reality. We test the air quality of our ships and they meet or exceed every requirement. The air quality on our ship decks when in port compares favorably with a typical urban or suburban environment. Independent testing on our funnels - which is the area where the exhaust originates- further validates our claims. This particular organization, for fund raising purposes, is constantly in search of a problem in our industry even if it has to create fake tests that really have no scientific basis. The safety of our guests is our top priority and we undertake our cruises in close coordination with national and international regulatory bodies like the EPA to insure the utmost safety of our guests and crew.
They also shared with 10News that they’ve installed Advanced Air Quality Systems on nearly 80% of their ships, in addition to rolling out new ships powered by Liquid Natural Gas.
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