China - Pollution - Environment - Economy - Choking on Growth Part I - The New York Times

Our drive to purchase more things at lower and lower prices has its cost well beyond our own house. I had pretty much decided to stop buying things made in China. Now I am committed to that policy. China is quickly becoming a vast toxic land. This can only lead to trouble for the world. They have several options, the two most likely to me are that they will either change and clean up their environment as many other nations are doing, or they will need to get more land.

Much of the money China has earned in the world market have gone to purchase large enough amounts of US T bills that they could pretty much ruin the value of our dollar, however, not without great financial losses on their part at this time.

From China Daily  

China faces severe ocean pollution

"Over the past five years, China has seen increased contamination of the ocean. The total amount of waste water flowing into the ocean was over 31 billion tons,"  This was the 2005 figure and it has become worse.

Choking on Growth A series of articles and multimedia examining the impact of China’s epic pollution crisis.

Below is a photo "recycling" in China and another NY Times story based on a study

Discarded circuit boards in the town of Guiyu, China, where scientists found
environmental contamination from crude recycling practices.

Full story here: 
Recycling That Harms the Environment and People - New York Times

Here is the abstract from the study

Environ. Sci. Technol., 42 (7),
2674–2680, 2008.

10.1021/es071873x

Web Release Date: March 4, 2008

Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society

Heavy Metals Concentrations of Surface Dust from e-Waste Recycling and Its Human Health Implications in Southeast China

Anna O. W. Leung,^† Nurdan S. Duzgoren-Aydin,^‡§
K. C. Cheung,^† and Ming H. Wong^*†

Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences,
and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, PR China,
and Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China

Received for review July 27, 2007

Revised manuscript received December 27, 2007

Accepted January 5, 2008

Abstract:

The recycling of printed circuit boards in Guiyu, China, a village intensely involved in e-waste processing, may present a significant environmental and human health risk. To evaluate the extent of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) contamination from printed circuit board recycling, surface dust samples were collected from recycling workshops, adjacent roads, a schoolyard, and an outdoor food market. ICP-OES analyses revealed elevated mean concentrations in workshop dust (Pb 110 000, Cu 8360, Zn 4420, and Ni 1500 mg/kg) and in dust of adjacent roads (Pb 22 600, Cu 6170, Zn 2370, and Ni 304 mg/kg). Lead and Cu in road dust were 330 and 106, and 371 and 155 times higher, respectively, than non e-waste sites located 8 and 30 km away. Levels at the schoolyard and food market showed that public places were adversely impacted. Risk assessment predicted that Pb and Cu originating from circuit board recycling have the potential to pose serious health risks to workers and local residents of Guiyu, especially children, and warrants an urgent investigation into heavy metal related health impacts. The potential environmental and human health consequences due to uncontrolled e-waste recycling in Guiyu serves as a case study for other countries involved in similar crude recycling activities.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying all is rosy in US Industrial practices, we need to watch our sources and hold them responsible for their environmental practices here and all over the world by purchasing less and items that have a smaller impact on the environment..