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Is China's Pollution Poisoning Its Children?
sciam.com — Now researchers may have found the best test case yet for environmental molecular epidemiology: a city in China whose coal-fired power plant was shut down in 2004. Preliminary analysis shows that children born in 2002, when the plant was still operating, have smaller heads and lower scores on developmental tests than those born a year after.
MakiMaki- 539 diggs
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- RookieExpert, on 07/14/2008, -2/+8This is scary!
- GeorgeCostanza, on 07/14/2008, -18/+8That's not the only small thing Chinese guys have...
And the sad thing is that even with the shrunken brains, they're still smarter than many Americans.
/end racist comment- seth123qq, on 07/14/2008, -0/+9that could have been a lot more racist.
- Smeed, on 07/14/2008, -5/+17China is a ***** up dirty hellhole, we all knew that. Breathing in all of that smog cant possibly be good. The problem is, when the next generation of their children are all drooling idiots, who is going to be smart enough to change it?
- seth123qq, on 07/14/2008, -3/+5USA!
- Eezyville, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1America, ***** YEAH!
- Berkana, on 07/14/2008, -1/+15Expatriate Chinese, if anyone. There's a reason some 60% of Chinese who study abroad don't go back. The best and brightest Chinese are often staffing engineering teams in the US, Britain, and Canada.
- JoshChan, on 07/15/2008, -1/+2did you make the statistics up?
- bloggerjul, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1According to the NDA, 80% of diggers just invent their own statistics... it's true!
- Berkana, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1I did not make that stat up, though I rounded down to 60% from what the BBC reported, which was two thirds. BBC reported on China's Brain Drain a while back, citing an observation reported by the China Daily that that about two thirds of expatriate Chinese who study abroad do not return to China with their expertise.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6356101.st ...
- seth123qq, on 07/14/2008, -3/+5USA!
- phreak79, on 07/14/2008, -0/+25Crazy isn't it, where so many people protest against nuclear power yet thousands die each year from coal and no one really bats an eyelid. It truely is a grotty old power source and hopefully this years Olympics will shame China into kicking it to touch.
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -0/+2It's not really coal that's the problem (although there are much cleaner ways to get power) -- it's the fact that the Chinese don't take simple measures to try to mitigate the harm that coal does to the environment. If you look at the emissions of Chinese coal plants versus U.S. EPA regulated coal plants, there is a HUGE difference.
-- just another example of the Chinese government's depraved indifference toward the well-being of its individual comrades.
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -0/+2It's not really coal that's the problem (although there are much cleaner ways to get power) -- it's the fact that the Chinese don't take simple measures to try to mitigate the harm that coal does to the environment. If you look at the emissions of Chinese coal plants versus U.S. EPA regulated coal plants, there is a HUGE difference.
- Berkana, on 07/14/2008, -0/+15Duh. Yes it is.
- bobby2010, on 07/14/2008, -1/+2Too scary!
- gn0stik, on 07/14/2008, -0/+9There are entire cities with lead poisoning in China, and nothing is being done about it.
- Enochulator, on 07/14/2008, -0/+14China has wanted to be a strong nation after WWII, being the "Asian Sick Man" for the longest time. They wanted to be like Japan and U.S. And to them the best way to achieve that is to have a strong economy with lots of businesses coming in, almost regardless of consequences. So they ignore the side effects, as long as the money is coming in. Corruption is also huge in China because the government turns a blind eye, that's why many things are not regulated in China: building codes, environmental pollution, copyright infringment, etc. With everything getting more expensive than ever without much skilled labour, China is setting themselves up for a national disaster.
- ordig, on 07/14/2008, -0/+10Also the fact that they are destroying their arable farmland at an alarming rate, in order to "modernize".
The amount of food they are going to have to import is going to have repercussions around the globe. - leerayIG88, on 07/14/2008, -0/+4When will China learn? :(
- shutaro, on 07/14/2008, -0/+3Opium... You forgot the opium.
- DestroyFascism, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2The Chinese government is one big corporation. They don't give a ***** about anything other than themselves and deny others knowledge about anything that will hurt them, hence the great firewall of China.
- ordig, on 07/14/2008, -0/+10Also the fact that they are destroying their arable farmland at an alarming rate, in order to "modernize".
- Hetman, on 07/14/2008, -7/+5This is horrible news. China is going to be our number 1 ally in the comming century. We should be helping them find solutions.
- shutaro, on 07/14/2008, -0/+2Or we can just bide our time until they're all messed up and sick from the pollution... Or trapped under shoddily constructed buildings. Then we just march in and take over with no resistance.
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1Why in the hell would the U.S. want to have a dayum thing to do with those peoples' problems. The Chinese people will eventually revolt if things don't change. It's a big country -- and the army can't be everywhere at once.
I see China eventually breaking up into smaller countries at some point into the future. There needs to be democracy and accountability. Without that, there will be no change. - shutaro, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1Well, my point is that beyond a certain point China will no longer be able to compete with our normal sized brains and non-collapsing buildings.
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1Why in the hell would the U.S. want to have a dayum thing to do with those peoples' problems. The Chinese people will eventually revolt if things don't change. It's a big country -- and the army can't be everywhere at once.
- jabberwolf, on 07/14/2008, -1/+5We should help but China DOES NOT WANT "HELP"
They want to do things their way, screw what the people want, whatever gets them more money and more power in the world.
What you think they are a democracy? They are a socialist country...the people are there to work for the benefit of the country. - Hetman, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1They are actually a hybrid of socialism and capitalism these days. Anyways I know that the Chinese government does not want our help. But I still feel for the people there.
- shutaro, on 07/14/2008, -0/+2Or we can just bide our time until they're all messed up and sick from the pollution... Or trapped under shoddily constructed buildings. Then we just march in and take over with no resistance.
- eggballs, on 07/14/2008, -0/+5Yes?
- Tantrum, on 07/14/2008, -0/+21It probably is but their priority is economic growth right now, that is their focus. THey put a million cars on the road every year and have 0 emission controls on them. Industry is booming, growth is booming. The government is helping offset the expense of fuel so that everyone can afford it. They're growing like mad over there and they're not letting things like green house emissions, pollution and what not get in their way. You know, they're exactly like we were 40..50.. years ago. I wish they would learn from our mistakes but they just see what the car did to our economy and they want that.... health be damned.
- Crizack, on 07/14/2008, -0/+3Small correction, it's actually nine million cars a year.
- DestroyFascism, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2We are Doomed...
As a species. we have gone too far.
- Hetman, on 07/14/2008, -4/+9What is with all the hate for china? We rely as much on them as they do on us. It is to late to deny that. Our economies depend on each other.
- yuanzhoulu, on 07/14/2008, -2/+5exactly.
give them some time, they are making progress pretty fast on all these issues. life in china 50 years ago was a real hellhole. - Hetman, on 07/14/2008, -1/+2I know. The cultural revolution was insanity. Living threw that must have been very difficult.
- yuanzhoulu, on 07/14/2008, -2/+5exactly.
- janielou, on 07/14/2008, -8/+1Isn't it strange the envitonmentalist never mention Chinas polution. They always bear down on ours.
- morningmatters, on 07/14/2008, -1/+6Once the middle class in China becomes sizable then they will demand cleaner air and better life style. Right now the majority Chinese are still your ordinary 3rd world citizens who work hard to put food on the table. Pollution and the environment is probably the last thing on their list.
- Hetman, on 07/14/2008, -3/+1Agreed. The same thing happens to all nations when they go through an industrial revolution like china has been doing the last 30 years.
- tikited, on 07/14/2008, -4/+2China people said they wanted to be like us in America but there pollution is heavy than ours.
- chrissku, on 07/14/2008, -1/+4The kids born that year a gonna be easy fodder for their peers in school. I feel sorry for them. As if childhood can't be confusing enough.
- kien64, on 07/14/2008, -3/+2China has shut down coal burning power plants to reduce the amount of air pollution in time for the Olympics that will last a few weeks, but the natives have been breathing that crap for years. The US is just as bad in tightening environmental policy...no, the Bush admin. has been bad in tightening this policy.
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -1/+1Couldn't let a single thread go without making an irrelevant comment about GWB?
- Midtowner, on 07/14/2008, -1/+1Couldn't let a single thread go without making an irrelevant comment about GWB?
- freedomkeeper, on 07/14/2008, -2/+3Not only are they poisoning their children, they're poisoning ours. Studies have shown that particulate matter found in samples from the snow pack in our Sierra Nevada mountains can be traced back to the same coal fired plants in China. Thank you China!
- supasamurai, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1And thanks to the good ole US of A for buying all the trinkets produced by all the factories powered by that power plant. And thanks too, for paying far less than what the chinese would need to move to a cleaner energy system. And thanks also for hating the slaves you keep and keeping the slaves you hate. God Bless America.
- kookbutt, on 07/14/2008, -0/+3I wonder if any of the athletes that are going to compete in the Olympics in China will have any longer term health effects from competing in such a polluted environment.
China can easily add scrubbers to their coal plants. The technology is readily available. - scottkrotdotcom, on 07/14/2008, -0/+2old news
- tykwondingo, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1I'm going to go out on a limb here and say yes, yes, they are.
Isn't everyone though? - beauley, on 07/14/2008, -2/+1For a few decades now, the U.S. has been advocating and implementing irradiation of some of our foods, mainly ground beef, chicken and as of late, many of our fruits and vegetables. During much of this time period, public reaction has been predominantly against it and many consumer advocates hope to eventually topple our governments efforts.
http://www.gomestic.com/Consumer-Information/Shoul ...
Should We Irradiate Our Foods? - beauley, on 07/14/2008, -1/+1The news heard everywhere these days mentions "Global Warming", sometimes more than once per telecast. Our top environmental scientists are in agreement that the earth is experiencing a warming period. Are they forgetting a key point ?
http://www.quazen.com/Science/Environment/Is-Globa ...
Is Global Warming, or Global Pollution the Issue? - addicted68098, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3People need to realize that China has over 5 times the population of the US and yet outputs about the same amount of pollution
- kookbutt, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Most athletes I know worry about second hand smoke. I wonder how they feel about the pollution in China during the Olympics. Just simply shutting down factories a couple of weeks before the Olympics will not get rid of all the pollution. The pollution permeates the soil and ground and the water and they stay there until they are cleaned up. If it is windy, then the pollutants in the ground will just get blown up into the air. And last time I checked, China hasn't done anything to treat the polluted water they have, other than getting rid of any visible clues that the water is polluted.
- mrcow05, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2James Reynold of the BBC talks about some the the things that China is doing on the topic of climate change and the arguments that China makes in defense of its refusal to cap emissions significantly:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jamesreyno ...
In summary, these arguments are:
1. Much of the greenhouse gases present today are caused by developed countries during their industrial revolutions.
2. Emissions per capita is several times below that of the typical Westerner.
3. Much of the pollution in China is caused by Western companies who have factories in China.
Although I feel that these arguments have weight, China needs to invest in new technology and go to above and beyond in terms of energy efficiency because of the large population density in cities. Already many houses in China have installed solar panels to heat their homes; hopefully we'll see more of that in the future.
In the end every country is looking out for their own economic competitiveness, and, often hypocritically, forcing others to solve the climate problem. Well, its everyone's problem and frankly all this finger-pointing is getting a bit ridiculous. How about building some fenced bike lanes like they have in China here, so that I can avoid being hit by cars twice per year while trying to do my part for the planet? - amightywind, on 07/15/2008, -3/+1Better them than us. Now I'm off to Walmart...
- CLAWC, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1wow. it takes a bunch of fancy Scientists from SciAm to tell people that China's poisonous.
- caponumen, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1This is the price of an insane trade policy, thanks Clinton administration........
- CryRightardCry, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Rightards, take notice.
This is our future unless you stop defending the pollution. - janielou, on 07/18/2008, -0/+0Did the wealth of the American Middleclass produce the consumer market that China has become? Multinational Corperations moved to China because they don't have enviromental regulation.
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