[Reader-list] China's cancer villages

[Nagraj Adve]

For those who sing paens to 'growth' and 'development', this Guardian
piece might give pause.
Naga


China's 'cancer villages' reveal dark side of economic boom

Polluting factories in rural communities are forming a deadly toxic
cocktail for villagers, leading to surging rates of cancer

    * Jonathan Watts, Xinglong
    * The Guardian, Monday 7 June 2010

Zheng Gumei thought she was down with a cold until the doctor told her
to wait outside the room so he could talk to her son alone.

"I knew then that I must have a serious illness," the 47-year-old
farmer recalled, wiping away the tears and then staring into the
distance. "I'm having treatment now. See, my hair has fallen out," she
said, taking off her hat to show the side-effects of chemotherapy.

Like many other residents of Xinglong, a small rural community next to
an industrial park in China's Yunnan province, she had little doubt
about the source of her cancer. "The pollution in this village is bad,
people get sick."

Such stories have become much more common in China in recent years as
breakneck economic growth increasingly takes its toll on the nation's
health.

Since last year, there has been an explosion of lead poisoning cases
close to smelting plants. Studies have shown that communities that
recycle electronic waste are exposed to cadmium, mercury and
brominated flame retardants. Elsewhere, there have been protests
against chemical factories that are blamed for carcinogens that enter
water supplies and the food chain.

Nationwide, cancer rates have surged since the 1990s to become the
nation's biggest killer. In 2007, the disease was responsible for one
in five deaths, up 80% since the start of economic reforms 30 years
earlier.

While the government insists it is cleaning up pollution far faster
than other nations at a similar dirty stage of development, many toxic
industries have simply been relocated to impoverished, poorly
regulated rural areas.

Chinese farmers are almost four times more likely to die of liver
cancer and twice as likely to die of stomach cancer than the global
average, according to study commissioned by the World Bank. The
domestic media is increasingly filled with reports of "cancer
villages" - clusters of the disease near dirty factories.

There have been few epidemiological studies to validate such claims,
but the scale of such reports highlights the growing fear of
pollution. Last year, investigative journalist Deng Fei, posted a
widely circulated Google map showing more than 100 "cancer villages".
More recent reports suggest the number could be over 400.

The vast majority are on the wealthy eastern seaboard, the first area
in China to accept "outsourced" dirty industries from overseas. But as
these regions have moved up the value chain and tightened regulations,
there are signs that the pollution and cancer belt may be moving
inland to areas that are either less aware of the dangers or too poor
to turn away business.

Deep in the scorched dry countryside of northeast Yunnan, the
residents of Xinglong fear they may soon join the list of sick
villages. An acrid stench assails the senses near the Luliang City
Industrial Park, the thicket of polluting factories that locals blame
for an outbreak of deadly tumours.

Cui Xiaoliang says he lost his aunt and father to cancer after the
village streams changed colour. Pointing to the lurid red discharge
from the Yinhe paper mill and a yellow trickle below the Peace
Technology chemical factory, he said health had declined along with
the environment.

"Before the factories were built, there was no cancer. We were free of
strange diseases," he said, grimacing at the nauseating fumes. "Now,
we hear every year that this person or that person has cancer,
especially lung and liver cancer. My aunt never drank alcohol or
smoked. Her cancer was completely caused by pollution."

At the village clinic, doctor Zhang Jianyou said he has noticed an
increase in cancer cases among the 3,000 residents. "The pollution has
definitely has an impact," he said. "I have been here 43 years. In the
past, cancer was not obvious, but in recent years it has become a very
evident problem. Last year alone, we had five cancer cases."

When locals tried to protest, Zhang said they were blocked by the
authorities because the chemical factories contribute to the local
economy.

Everyone the Guardian spoke to at the village knew of someone who had
died of cancer and most blamed the toxins that flowed from the
chemical factories into the nearby Nanpan river and ground water
supply.

Farmers said they have no other source of water for their crops and
animals. Goat herders said a tenth of their animals had died.

The impact may well have spread into the human food chain. Wang
Qingdi, a peach farmer who lives next to the chemical factory, said
her crops were ruined by contaminated water and air, but she still
sold them at the market because she had no other source of income.

"When the wind blows in this direction, a thick layer of soot settles
on my peach trees," he said. "Lots of fruit turn black and fall to the
ground, I dare not eat the rice I plant and harvest because the
pollution is so bad. I sell it on the street."

The county environment department said it was monitoring the
industrial park and paying particular attention to three companies:
Longhai Chemical, Yunnan Luliang Peace Technology and the Yinhe paper
mill. But inspectors lack the authority and the resources to keep
close tabs and impose harsh punitive measures on any factories that
break the rules.

"It is like police trying to catch a thief. It's not easy," said Song
Bin of the Luliang Environmental Protection Department. "Some
factories secretly discharge pollution. Some shut down treatment
devices when electricity is in short supply. Others turn off their
systems at night when they know we are not checking."

He was cautious, however, about the health implications. "It is hard
to say whether there is relationship between cancer and the factories
because the workers do not have unusually high rates of the disease,"
he said. "Many officials have suggested we invite experts to do a
systematic study, but we haven't done this yet because of budget and
other reasons."

The Guardian requested data on factory emissions and water quality.
Under the government's information transparency law, such information
is supposed to be publicly available, but officials insisted their
monitoring results were for internal reference only.

Yinhe paper mill refused to comment. The chemical factory - Yunnan
Luliang Peace Technology - said the pollution problems dated back to
previous owners and were now being rectified.

"The cancer situation in the village has nothing to do with us," said
Candy Xu, foreign sales manager. "The pollution accumulated over 10
years. It can't be solved immediately but we deal with it year by
year. Within three-to-five years I believe we can clear it up. The
previous company was irresponsible to the local residents and it is
not fair to blame us for their mistakes."

The new owners from the rich coastal province of Zhejiang have
invested in new equipment and are trying to shift production towards
cleaner, high-end nutritional supplements and feed additives, but
their website still lists sodium dichromate – a highly carcinogenic
chemical – among its products.

In a recent study of "cancer villages", Lee Liu of the University of
Central Missouri said the problem was exacerbated by the government's
tendency to focus on urban development at the cost of rural areas.
This – and a lack of independent oversight by NGOs and journalists –
have mixed into a toxic cocktail.

"China appears to have produced more cancer clusters in a few decades
than the rest of the world ever had," he notes.

Whether the village of Xinglong will join the list cannot be confirmed
without a full study. But rising cancer rates and appalling pollution
levels leave locals in little doubt.

For Zheng, her breast cancer does not just threaten her life, but the
financial well-being of her daughter. She has had to borrow 20,000
yuan (£2,000) for two courses of chemotherapy and estimates it will
cost another 80,000 yuan to cure the disease. She knows that is far
from certain.

"My brother-in law had cancer like me. He is dead already," she said
as her infant daughter pulled at her shirt. "I want to tell the
factories they make too much pollution. Because of them Xinglong
village is sick."