In this month’s Lancelot, a group of 6 authors have published the 10 page article Environmental health in China: progress towards clean air and safe water, and I would highly recommend readers take the time to download the paper (right click here) and read it.

Here is their summary:

Environmental risk factors, especially air and water pollution, are a major source of morbidity and mortality in China. Biomass fuel and coal are burned for cooking and heating in almost all rural and many urban households, resulting in severe indoor air pollution that contributes greatly to the burden of disease. Many communities lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and thus the risk of waterborne disease in many regions is high. At the same time, China is rapidly industrialising with associated increases in energy use and industrial waste. Although economic growth from industrialisation has improved health and quality of life indicators, it has also increased the release of chemical toxins into the environment and the rate of environmental disasters, with severe effects on health. Air quality in China’s cities is among the worst in the world, and industrial water pollution has become a widespread health hazard. Moreover, emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases from energy use are rapidly increasing. Global climate change will inevitably intensify China’s environmental health troubles, with potentially catastrophic outcomes from major shifts in temperature and precipitation. Facing the overlap of traditional, modern, and emerging environmental dilemmas, China has committed substantial resources to environmental improvement. The country has the opportunity to address its national environmental health challenges and to assume a central role in the international effort to improve the global environment.

For me, these are perhaps two of the two most important environmental issues that China faces, and will be an area that only continues to grow worse as teh full health impacts from water and air degradation are further exacerbated

Shot on scene over a week, this series form VPT will give you a clear representation of what challenges China’s growth has brought with it.35 minutes in total, this film presents an unfortunate picture of just how serious the air pollution for some is, and how it impacts everything in the society and economy.

In my mind, I am still scratching my head as to why Lifen and the other 15 cities on the most polluted list do not have programs in place to ensure that all the entities who play a role are being given assistance in paying for technologies, and are then being monitored to make sure they are using the technologies.

It is a problem that can be solved, and it is one that if left to continue will only get worse.With that being said, and with the finger pointed, I would like to also point out that there are solutions and that things are beginning to change, and western consumers themselves have a role in this as well.