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160 in China hospital over possible factory pollution: report
Beijing (AFP) May 14, 2009 More than 160 people have been hospitalised and hundreds of others have been sickened in northeastern China in a suspected case of pollution caused by a chemical plant, local media said Thursday. Staff at a plant operated by the Jilin Chemical Fibre Group in Jilin city, as well as residents living nearby, started complaining of headache, nausea, vomiting and general fatigue in late April, the Beijing Times reported. About 1,000 people reported suffering from the symptoms and 161 of them had to be hospitalised, the paper said. Patients said they suspected they had been affected by emissions from Connell Chemical, a Hong Kong-invested chemical producer near the fibre plant, according to the report. Environmental authorities have tested the air near the two chemical companies but have not yet been able to identify any pollutant, it said. However, the city government has ordered Connell Chemical to shut down its aniline plant and inspectors are staying on the spot to track the air quality 24 hours a day, the report added. China's health ministry has sent disease control experts to the city to assess and analyse the impact of the suspected pollution, it said. Aniline is a colorless, oily and poisonous organic compound used to make rubber, dyes, pharmaceuticals and varnishes. China, the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, is struggling to clean up its skies after decades of rapid economic development. A survey conducted in November in 320 cities said the average air quality in two out of five Chinese cities ranged from "polluted" to "hazardous", state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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States to eliminate nine more poisonous chemicals: UNGeneva (AFP) May 9, 2009 Nine chemicals, including headlice treatment lindane, have been added to a list of poisonous substances that are to be eliminated under the Stockholm Convention, the UN Environment Programme said Saturday. More than 160 signatory states of the convention targeting hazardous substances that can kill or are seriously harmful to health, added the chemicals to the existing list of 12 after a wee ... read more |
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