Health expert blames pollution for rapid cancer rise
Pastor Dale Morgan
Health expert blames pollution for rapid cancer rise*
16 May 2007 13:05:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
BEIJING, May 16 (Reuters) - Worsening air and water pollution and
frequent use of food additives and pesticides made cancer the top killer
in China last year, state media reported on Wednesday, citing health
experts.
The official Xinhua news agency said earlier in May that cancer topped
the list of 10 most lethal diseases for urban and rural residents in
China, according to a Health Ministry survey in 30 cities and 78 counties.
"The main reason is that the pollution of environment, water and air is
getting worse day by day," the agency quoted Chen Zhizhou, a health
expert from a cancer research centre, as saying.
"To pursue the growth in GDP, a lot of chemical and industrial
enterprises were built along the rivers so that they could dump the
waste through water easily," Chen said.
"The contaminated water sources have directly affected soil, crops and
food," Chen said, adding that it, along with polluted air, is closely
linked to the rise and high fatalities of cancer.
Farmers used additives on pigs, poultry and vegetables to make them grow
faster, and the frequent use of fertiliser and pesticides were also to
blame, the report said.
The survey showed cancer deaths had risen by 19 percent in cities and 23
percent in rural areas from 2005, the report said, without giving an
exact figure.
The number of cancer patients in China has been soaring since the 1970s,
and 80 percent of them died from common cancers of the lungs, liver and
stomach, Chinese media have reported.