The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: libertybele on January 18, 2021, 01:05:39 am
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Nearly 100 million Chinese people supplied drinking water with 'unsafe' levels of toxic chemicals
Drinking water provided to nearly 100 million people in China has levels of toxic chemicals that exceed safe limits, researchers have found.
A team from Tsinghua University monitored the levels of per and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) - man-made chemicals used in everything from fabrics to pesticides - using data from previous studies.
By analysing data from 526 drinking water samples across 66 cities with a total population of 450 million, the study found that the concentration of PFAS in more than 20 per cent of the studied cities - 16 in total - exceeded safe levels.
China has no national safety standards, so the study used the US state of Vermont's regulations as the benchmark.
...................The mean concentration of PFASs in eastern China was 2.6 times that of the country's north, which the report's authors attributed to intensive industrial activity and high population density.
Roland Weber, a co-author of the study and German consultant on persistent organic pollutants, said that some PFAS were more dangerous than others, especially the chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS, which have been linked to a variety of health risks.
"The European Food Safety Agency recently highlighted four PFAS - including PFOA and PFOS - as particularly problematic and set a low tolerable intake limit [the daily amount deemed safe] ," he said.
The study found extremely high levels of PFOA and PFOS in three Chinese cities in the Yangtze River Basin - Zigong, Jiujiang and Lianyungang - which were attributed to the presence of fluorochemical plants and industries that use multiple PFAS, such as leather, textile and paper manufacturing.
Weber said more toxicity assessment needs to be done on the thousands of PFAS in use, because there are still many unknown risks and scientists suggest limiting them to essential uses.
The toxic chemicals can be found in everything from stain-resistant textiles, greaseproof food packaging, firefighting foam, personal care products, pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
"Many PFAS are water soluble and do not degrade possibly for centuries and longer and are therefore called 'forever chemicals'. If you have contaminated ground water used for irrigation, it will go into your plant, your food and your cattle," said Weber.
The two toxic chemicals - PFOA and PFOS - do not break down in the human body or environment and can accumulate over time, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency............................
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/nearly-100-million-chinese-people-093000012.html (https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/nearly-100-million-chinese-people-093000012.html)
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Does ANYBODY REALLY think the Chinese leadership give a damn what happens to 100 million Chinese who are not related to them?
Chances are it was done on purpose to help tighten their budget.
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Does ANYBODY REALLY think the Chinese leadership give a damn what happens to 100 million Chinese who are not related to them?
Chances are it was done on purpose to help tighten their budget.
Dang straight. And folks if you care for your cat or dog, you'll research where their food/toys come from.