Experts interviewed: Environmental and Economic Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Dr. Weizheng Zheng
Article 21 of the "Environment and Health Quality of Chinese Citizens": Maintaining environmental sanitation and reducing disease occurrence.
In recent years, with the rapid development of China's economy, the environmental quality has been deteriorating, and the impact of environmental pollution on human health has become increasingly apparent. Environmentally-induced health risks and hazards have also become one of the public topics most concerned by the state, society, and the public.
Environmental factors cause about 12.6 million deaths worldwide
In 2016, the keynote report released by the Second United Nations Environment Assembly “Healthy Environment, Healthy Humans” and the World Health Organization “Prevention of Diseases through Healthy Environments - Global Burden of Disease Caused by Environmental Factors” all show that in 2012, the global About 12.6 million people died as a result of environmental factors, accounting for 23% of the total death toll, which is 1% lower than in 2002. Among them, the deaths due to non-communicable diseases in the environment increased from 17% in 2002 to 22% in 2012. The number of deaths from communicable diseases decreased from 31% in 2002 to 20% in 2012. The main environmental risk factors considered in the report are occupational risks, environmental air pollution, vector environmental management, indoor air pollution, secondhand smoke, residential defects, lead, There are 8 categories of water (including drinking water, sanitation and hand hygiene), etc. The main considerations are respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diarrhea, asthma, malaria, and 68 other diseases that are significantly related to environmental factors.
Reports of outdoor air pollution, cancer villages, children’s blood lead poisoning, and school drug runway incidents are common in China. Dr. Wei Zhengzheng of the Environmental and Economic Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection told the “Life Times” reporter that there are some long-term lows that have not been given high priority. Potential long-term health hazards caused by dose-exposed contaminants, such as infertility due to environmental endocrine disruptors, birth defects, premature development of adolescents, etc. In urban and rural areas, environmental health issues are increasingly significant, industrial pollution, agricultural pollution And domestic pollution is the main cause of the deterioration of environmental sanitation. Most of these are artificial. Maintaining environmental sanitation, reducing parasites, and breeding pathogens, and cutting off access to humans can reduce the incidence of disease.
Large areas of cultivated land suffered from varying degrees of pesticide contamination
With the development of rural economy, the problem of environmental pollution in rural areas has drawn attention. Huang Jichen, director of the Center for Agricultural Policy Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, surveyed the basic environmental pollution of 101 villages in five provinces across the country and showed that 44% of rural villages have deteriorated in the past 10 years. Rural township enterprises Development, urbanization, or the concentration of residential areas inhabit people have a significant negative impact on the rural environment. Weizheng Zheng said that the main environmental health problems facing the countryside are water pollution, the random accumulation of domestic garbage, and the problem of farmland soil.
'Irrigation in the 1960s, rice washing in the 1970s, deterioration of the water quality in the 1980s, and now it is stinking and unbearable', this is a true portrayal of changes in the rural water environment. Rural domestic waste has developed from the perishable leaves of the past. To plastic bags, agricultural films, fast food boxes, waste batteries, etc. Many of these things are not recycled, are non-degradable, and seriously pollute the environment. Large areas of cultivated land have suffered from pesticide pollution in varying degrees, and toxic and hazardous substances have been contaminated, mainly from industrial and Urban sewage, farmland, agricultural pesticides and other chemicals used in the ultra-high and irrational use of large-scale livestock and poultry farms high environmental hormone content, livestock and poultry excrement, so that crops are affected.
To solve rural environmental problems, Wei Zhengxi said that it is necessary to properly handle solid wastes such as rural garbage, human and animal excreta, domestic waste, domestic sewage, production wastewater, and reduction of chemical fertilizers, rational use, control of pesticides and organic matter, etc. First, thoroughly Clear all types of garbage in village streets, houses in front of houses, around villages, and in public places, eliminate dead corners of hygiene, and avoid exposing garbage. Clean floating materials and miscellaneous materials on the surface of rivers and ponds in villages, and eliminate chaos on river banks. Take careless construction, disorganized planting and illegal planting, stop direct discharge of sewage manure, excessive discharge of enterprises, and landfilling of rivers; second, establish fixed garbage dumping sites to achieve centralized dumping and regular removal. Collecting, village concentration, rural transshipment, county processing's rural garbage disposal model, collecting village household garbage, centralized delivery to township transshipment sites. Conditional villages, to establish rural part-time cleaning teams, setting up special bins; Management of human and animal excrement, the implementation of harmless sanitation toilets. Prohibit urine anywhere, open pit pits should be stamped, excreta and urine should be disinfected by lime or bleaching powder, and centralized treatment. Poultry and livestock should be kept in captivity to prevent the faeces from polluting the environment and water sources. Keeping the livestock sheds dry, reducing the chances of parasites and germs breeding; Fourth, take the development path of ecological agriculture, implementing ecological balanced fertilization techniques and ecological control techniques. Control the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides at the source. Combine water-saving irrigation techniques to increase the efficiency of agricultural water and fertilizer use.
Citizens should not blindly oppose the construction of waste incinerators
Not only rural areas, urban environmental sanitation also needs urgent attention. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 2016, the urbanization rate in China has reached 57.35%. At the same time as the rapid urban development, urban environmental problems are also rapidly developing, urban air pollution, indoor air Pollution, urban water shortage and water pollution, urban waste and garbage pollution seriously affect people's production and life.
The 2010 Global Burden of Disease Assessment shows that outdoor PM2.5 air pollution in 2010 caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China and more than 25 million healthy life years. China's gas combustion pollution, industrial emissions, dust at construction sites, motor vehicles Exhaust gas has become the main air pollution source. Excessive discharge of industrial waste water and a large amount of domestic waste water have been discharged into rivers without treatment. 78% of the country's river reaches are not suitable as drinking water sources, and 50% of groundwater is contaminated. Beijing, Xi'an Water crisis has also occurred in many cities. It is estimated that China’s annual economic loss caused by pollution amounts to 40 billion yuan. The increase rate of urban solid waste is far greater than that of the environment. In 2015, the amount of urban industrial solid waste generated in China was With 191 million tons, domestic garbage production is about 18,600 tons, and it grows at a rate of 7% to 8% per year. About two-thirds of the country's cities are surrounded by garbage. Solid wastes are piled everywhere, not only unsightly, but also invasive. Land, infectious disease, and in the serious pollution of the environment at the same time intensify water, air, soil pollution.
Weizheng Zheng said that the government and the public should all take action to deal with the problem of urban environmental health. First, we must actively participate in the prevention and control of air pollution, make full use of clean energy, build clean heating projects, give priority to public transport, and reduce traffic. Emissions of exhaust gas, actively promote the use of new energy and fuel-replacement vehicles; Second, pay attention to indoor air, choose green decoration materials, strengthen indoor ventilation, keep the place of residence and the surrounding environment clean, often clean the corners of hygiene, try to keep the interior of the house dry, reduce Germ breeding; Third, promote water conservation, encourage reuse of wastewater, use various natural purification methods to treat sewage, use new technologies and methods to purify water, and do not allow sewage to be discharged directly into rivers, lakes, and seas; In the recycling and comprehensive utilization of garbage, citizens should actively participate in waste separation and recycling, understand the main methods of landfill and garbage incineration, and do not blindly oppose the construction of waste incinerators, and support waste incineration, power generation, and turning waste into treasure. Assist in supervising waste discharge from waste incineration plants. ▲
