 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Thermometer Factory Pollutes Farming Town In China
Beijing (AFP) July 31, 2006 A town in southwest China is wrestling with a serious pollution problem after a thermometer factory contaminated its vegetable fields and rivers with mercury, local media said Monday. The residents of Dongyang town in Chongqing municipality may face the loss of 20 hectares (49.3 acres) of farmland because the mercury has seeped into the soil, the Chongqing Evening Post said. Farmers had for a long time used the water from nearby rivers, which are contaminated by the factory pollution, to irrigate their vegetables, corn and melons, the report said. The factory, which closed on Sunday after filing for bankruptcy, had a section that produced mercury and droplets of the chemical can still be seen around the grounds of the complex, according to the report. The plant had once directly discharged into one of the rivers, poisoning all the fish in fish farms nearby, it said. Mercury is listed by the World Health Organization as a possible carcinogen that has many other severe health side effects for humans if exposed to high levels. Experts from the local environmental protection department and a local agriculture college have confirmed soil and vegetables contain mercury levels exceeding safe limits, but it was not clear by how much, the report said. Severe environmental degradation has accompanied China's rapid economic growth and industrialization since the early 1980s, with serious pollution from factories now a major problem across the country.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up
Pipeline Leak In West Russia Could Poses Serious Threat
Moscow (AFP) July 31, 2006A major pipeline delivering oil from Russia to its European neighbours ruptured at the weekend, posing a potentially serious environmental threat, the government said on Monday. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
