China admits existence of pollution-linked 'cancer villages'

[Daredevil]

BEIJING: Facing flak over poor pollution control measures, China for the first time has admitted the existence of "cancer villages" due to the production of certain harmful chemicals banned in developed countries.

The statement from the Environment Ministry came following scathing public criticism for poor pollution control measures as industrial waste, hazardous smog and other environmental and health consequences of years of rapid growth has made life miserable.

"Poisonous and harmful chemical materials have brought about many water and atmosphere emergencies... certain places are even seeing 'cancer villages'," said a five-year plan that was highlighted this week.

Certain harmful chemicals banned in developed countries are still used or produced in China, where toxic pollution is severe in certain areas and making some villages highly prone to cancer, China's Environmental Protection Ministry admitted, state-run Global Times reported today.

The admission came after a Chinese entrepreneur offered pollution control authority chief Zhejiang a USD 33000 reward to swim in a local polluted river for 20 minutes.

Jin Zengmin, chief executive of a Hangzhou eyeglasses retailer, posted three photos on his Chinese Twitter microblog showing the river in small-town Ruian entirely blocked by floating rubbish. He blamed a rubber overshoe factory for dumping industrial waste into the river.

A work plan by the environment ministry to prevent and control chemical pollution specifically listed 58 kinds of chemicals that needed strict supervision for their production, use and discharge.

"It is the first time that the ministry clearly put forward these dangerous chemicals, which will serve as a guide for the prevention and control of toxic substances in the future," Wu Yixiu, a senior campaigner from Greenpeace China told the daily.

It is also rare for the government to admit the existence of cancer clusters in rural areas, he said.

China admits existence of pollution-linked 'cancer villages' - The Times of India

 

[Ray]

Very scary.

All developing nations must learn a lesson from China so as to not make the same mistake in their over urgency to modernise and expand the economy.

The social factor must also be taken into account!

GDP up and Health cost up!

Not a good mix!

 

[SADAKHUSH]

http:// Powered by Translate Blue Planet Project Water Movements Global Water Crisis Local Campaigns Resources News & Events About BPP Home » News & Events » Water Justice News » NEWS: Nestle capitalizes on China's polluted lakes and rivers to sell bottled water NEWS: Nestle capitalizes on China's polluted lakes and rivers to sell bottled water Posted by Brent Patterson on January 11, 2013 Tagged with: Bottled Water, China, Nestlé Bloomberg reports, "Nestle SA's water business has suffered as western consumers turn to the tap due to environmental concerns about plastic bottles. Fortunately for the Swiss company, in China environmental concerns are instead driving growth. While the tough economy and green opposition to bottles are weighing on the water business in Europe and the U.S., it's growing fast in China where industrial and agricultural expansion have polluted supplies." "About 70 percent of China's lakes and rivers have been polluted by industrial facilities such as power and chemical plants and paper and textile factories, according to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research group. Availability of natural fresh water in China is just one quarter of the global average, and the north of China already faces a scarcity of water, the World Bank reports. In Shanghai, 'almost all' surface water has been polluted and doesn't meet drinking standards, according to the city's Water Authority. "¦Purified water from treatment plants is often contaminated again en route to homes. About half of tap suppliers provide substandard water due to deteriorating pipes harboring contaminants, sediment and bacteria, according to China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development." "Nestle Waters has opened two facilities in China since 1998, one close to Beijing that extracts spring water from a local source, and another near Shanghai that taps an aquifer. The company "¦ also bought Yunnan Dashan Drinks Co., a natural spring water producer in the southwest of China, in 2010." "About half of the water Nestle sells in China is delivered in five-gallon (18.9 liter) jugs. "¦Nestle charges about 16 yuan ($2.57) for a five-gallon container of purified water and 18 yuan for mineral water. "¦In Shanghai, Nestle has opened 12 water stores where customers can phone in orders. Tucked between a pharmacy and a beauty salon, a store in the affluent Lujiazui district sells 400 to 500 containers daily. On the busy street outside, workers stack about two-dozen bottles onto electric tricycles for delivery to homes and offices." The article adds, "Sales of bottled water in the country will climb to $16 billion by 2017, versus $9 billion in 2012 and $1 billion in 2000, according to researcher Euromonitor International. The market in western Europe will remain flat at $21 billion and North America will increase 18 percent to $26 billion over the same period, Euromonitor predicts. "¦Water has shrunk as a percentage of Nestle's revenue for four years running and accounted for 8 percent, or 6.5 billion Swiss francs ($7 billion), of its 2011 sales. "¦While Nestle continues to rely on developed countries for the bulk of its water business, 'it recognizes that emerging markets are high-growth and profitable and that it has to increase its presence,' said Richard Withagen, an analyst at SNS Securities in Amsterdam." The article can be read at [url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-10/nestle-taps-china-water-thirst-as-west-spurns-plastic.html]Nestle Taps China Water Thirst as West Spurns Plastic - Bloomberg. A Blue Planet Project/ Council of Canadians blog 'UPDATE: Trade deal, fracking boom further threaten the right to water in China', go to UPDATE: Trade deal, fracking boom further threaten the right to water in China. For various campaign blogs on Nestle, see Search Results. Water Justice News & Events Water Justice News Events Water Justice Wins! Related News & Updates: UPDATE: Karunananthan challenges Nestle chair on his right to water views NEWS: Nestlé chairman promotes 'global public-private' policy body at the World Water Forum NEWS: Barlow takes on Nestlé in 'Bottled Life' documentary Related Resources: Tapped Tapped is a condemnation of one of the most ubiquitous acts of consumption today, the purchase of bottled water. The scathing new documentary reveals a litany of damaging effects as it follows this environmental scourge from production to "disposal," including the Pacific Ocean's floating continents of plastic debris twice the size of the continental United [...] Share © 2012 Blue Planet Project Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha[/URL]

What the developed countries have done is kind of a curse for Chinese by transferring the manufacturing and thus shifting the pollution to China. We in developed part of the world have thus in the long term prevented the same end result what Chinese have to live with.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

China cancer epidemiology