Beijing unveils blueprint to control health risks of toxic chemicals
For first time, policy blueprint links pollution to rising health threats in industrial areas
The central government has unveiled its first blueprint to control the environmental and health risks of toxic chemicals, and for the first time officially acknowledged the existence of "cancer clusters" due to such pollution.
The blueprint, covering the period from 2011 to 2015 and posted on the website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, admits that excessive levels of chemical pollutants are already found in the country's major rivers and lakes, and even in animal and human bodies.
"In recent years, toxic and hazardous chemical pollution has caused many environmental disasters, cutting off drinking water supplies, and even leading to severe health and social problems such as 'cancer villages'," the blueprint said.
In recent years, toxic and hazardous chemical pollution has caused many environmental disasters, cutting off drinking water supplies, and even leading to severe health and social problems such as 'cancer villages
Between 2008 and 2011, more than a half of the 568 environmental emergencies dealt with by the ministry were related to chemicals, official statistics show.
Calling the blueprint "a significant first step", Liu Jianguo , an associate professor at Peking University, said chemical pollution on the mainland had become "the most severe problem" and one that government could no longer ignore.
Mainland officials were previously reluctant to link pollution levels with rising cancer rates in industrial areas.
Some chemical pollutants can travel long distances and accumulate in the environment and human bodies, disturbing endocrine and immune systems and even causing cancer.