Water pollution and human health in China.

Abstract

China's extraordinary economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization, coupled with inadequate investment in basic water supply and treatment infrastructure, have resulted in widespread water pollution. In China today approximately 700 million people--over half the population--consume drinking water contaminated with levels of animal and human excreta that exceed maximum permissible levels by as much as 86% in rural areas and 28% in urban areas. By the year 2000, the volume of wastewater produced could double from 1990 levels to almost 78 billion tons. These are alarming trends with potentially serious consequences for human health. This paper reviews and analyzes recent Chinese reports on public health and water resources to shed light on what recent trends imply for China's environmental risk transition. This paper has two major conclusions. First, the critical deficits in basic water supply and sewage treatment infrastructure have increased the risk of exposure to infectious and parasitic disease and to a growing volume of industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and algal toxins. Second, the lack of coordination between environmental and public health objectives, a complex and fragmented system to manage water resources, and the general treatment of water as a common property resource mean that the water quality and quantity problems observed as well as the health threats identified are likely to become more acute.ImagesFigure 1Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4

Class 1 Integrons, Selected Virulence Genes, and Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolates from the Minjiang River, Fujian Province, China

“…Like many other parts of China, Fujian Province is now experiencing extraordinary environmental pressures accompanying rapid economic growth, increasing urbanization, and expansion of the agricultural sector. Although some progress has been made in creating a healthy environment, investments in the water treatment infrastructure have not been sufficient to mitigate widespread water pollution (45,46,51). An estimated 600 million tons of poultry and livestock manure was produced in Fujian Province in 2004, most of which was discharged directly into the Minjiang River and other waterways without any treatment (6,50).…”

Impacts of soil and water pollution on food safety and health risks in China

“…Most importantly, a food supply chain tracking system from field to fork should be established to make the information of food production, processing, transportation and storage open and transparent, and to take precautionary approaches to avoid the spread of contaminated food. Improving monitoring, regulatory oversight and more government transparency are needed to better estimate the potential risks of contaminated water, soil and poor sanitation and hygiene on human health (Wu et al, 1999;Carlton et al, 2012).…”

Promoting Health and Well-Being by Managing for Social–Ecological Resilience: the Potential of Integrating Ecohealth and Water Resources Management Approaches

“…The WHO (2004) also identified as "water-related" indicators of severity of global morbidity and mortality such as trachoma, schistosomiasis, and intestinal helminthes. Globally, there have also been major water-related epidemics of toxoplasmosis, Cryptosporidia, giardiasis, hepatitis, E. coli, Campylobacter, and Cyclospora-many of which have been implicitly attributed to poor watershed management and its links with municipal drinking water supplies and sewage treatment (Bowie et al 1997, Wu et al 1999). …”