“Made in China” Comes at a Price: Cancer Villages
China has overtaken Germany as the world’s top exporter of goods, which marks another breakthrough in China’s rise to the top and its ever growing economic influence. As China’s export rates rise to the highest in the world, so does its pollution. Judith Shapiro, the director of the Masters in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development for the School of International Service at American University, states that with “20 of the World’s 30 most polluted cities [residing] in China” it is an easy task to see the severity of pollution (Sharpiro). In order to rise to its high economic position China’s government ignores pollution regulations, allowing the release of waste into the air and water to skyrocket. Lee Liu, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Central Missouri, discusses that pollution has increased to the point where it has caused “459 cancer villages across 29 of China’s 31 provincial units” (9). Cancer villages are small communities near pollution creating factories where cancer rates have soared far above the national average. Most one the 459 cancer villages remain unofficially reported, due to the Chinese government not wanting to own up to its own pollution issues. China’s lack of environmental law enforcement is the reason for its large increase of water and air pollution, which is the cause of the cancer villages.
China’s number one goal has been grow first and clean up later, which has led to the increase in air pollution. Emily Rauhala, Associate Editor at the Hong Kong TIME, reports that, even with “Lung-cancer rates jumping 60% in a period of 10 years,” China has only announced a new blueprint for cleaning the pollution and no other ac...
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..., and the burning of coal. The pollution can be seen in the air and water by smog or discoloration of water from chemicals. These uncontrolled high levels of pollutants have rapidly increased the cancer rates in china and have contributed to the large amounts of cancer villages. Cancer villages can be seen in almost every province across China, where the rates of cancer are well above the national average. This can be from air pollutants, contaminated drinking water and contaminated water for irrigation of crops. The smog is beginning to worsen and the amount of uncontaminated drinking water is slowly diminishing, leaving many with only the contaminated lakes as their source of water. Chinese citizens will continue to see a decline in their health due to the ever worsening pollution. The pollution is almost impossible to ignore due to its ever lurking effects.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating breast cancer, suffered a PR disaster four years ago and has yet to recover from the bad press of this unpopular decision. In 2012, the Susan G. Komen Foundation decided to end their financial support of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of family reproductive services (including abortion). This action resulted in an immediate public backlash and ignited a fierce political debate. In the middle of this controversy, the New York Times published an article in which women who had previously participated in the Susan G. Komen cancer walk were asked their opinion of the decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding. Sarah Robertson, who completed the 39.3-mile walk last year stated “I personally wouldn’t walk for Komen,” citing the
Many people are unknowingly exposed to air pollution and have no idea. Some common causes of air pollution are automobiles, factories, landfills and toxic materials. Air pollution destroys the environment; it causes climate change because it greatly affects the greenhouse effect and it causes acid rain. Acid rain contaminates water and destroys animal’s homes. Air pollution has many effects on people it causes coughing, elevates your risk of asthma, wheezing, it can cause diseases and birth defects. It’s estimated “that seven million people died prematurely in 2012 from exposure to air pollution and that air pollution can cause cardiovascular diseases. The use of incinerators has caused protest movements from the Chinese citizens because they are becoming aware of the air pollution that is being given off from the burning of their trash and the effects it has on their health. There have been many reports of premature births and stillbirths of pregnant women that live near garbage incinerators”( Professional Safety, 2014, p.
One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.
On April 9th, 2014, The American Cancer Society sponsored Relay For Life in support of people who have battled cancer, who have lost loved ones, and who will continue to fight against the disease. This event was suitable for our Tobacco team because it allowed us to educationally campaign the harmful dangers that are correlated with smoking or chewing tobacco. After several meetings of preparing, our group was able to attend Relay For Life and achieve effective tobacco awareness activities, interactions, results, and analytical data. Beginning with our first activity, Dear Tobacco, our idea was to get students to actively participate in voicing their opinions/ experiences on the use of tobacco whether it is positive or negative by writing a letter to the tobacco companies. Preparing for Dear Tobacco was very simple because the only supplies needed were clipboards, paper, and pens. In the beginning, it was tricky attracting participant’s to complete the activity but as a group we had to make it clear that this was an activity where they could be known or unknown, positive or negative, explicit or implicit, and that they could write as short as a word or as long as an essay. The purpose of Dear Tobacco was to give the participants the opportunity to express their opinions/ experiences on tobacco without any restrictions. As students were doing their laps around the room, our group had to be creative but yet quick in how we could pull in the audience before they would walk right past us. Luckily, we had several chances so if anybody tried to disregard us, we would try something new and get them involved the next time they came around. Once one of our team members had their attention we would offer the Dear Tobacco activity and if the...
China’s economy is one very large indicator of its role in globalization. “In 2010 China became the world’s largest exporter” (CIA World Factbook). Without China many places such as the United States of America would be without billions of goods imported from China annually. An influx of companies moving their manufacturing to China has allowed people to flock to cities and find jobs. China’s economy has grown exponentially over the last few decades. In the last three years China’s economy has grown by nearly ten percent every year. Despite this influx of money to China it has also resulted in many drawbacks. For example, China’s environment has been obliterated. China burns more coal than every country in the world combined. Beijing has been so badly polluted that there are actually companies that sell cans of fresh air to people, and gas masks are a common sight. On January 12th 2013 Beijing’s air pollution reached a record setting 775 PPM. To put that into perspective, the scale for measuring pollution is 0-500 PPM. This set an all-time recorded high. In Los Angeles a high ...
According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer health disparities are defined as the adverse differences between specific populations and the achievement of an optimal state of health. These population groups are categorized by geographic location, income, disability, age, education, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or race. These factors correlate with cancer mortality rates that impact specific population groups in the United States, cancer prevalence is the number of people diagnosed or living with cancer, and cancer incidence which is the number of new cancer cases in a population. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2013, there were an estimated 1,660,290 new cases of cancer and 580,350 of the new cases resulted in mortality. Individuals who have limited access to healthcare, health illiterate, and poverty stricken are more likely to develop cancer. This means a person’s socioeconomic status can determine the likelihood of their probability of developing cancer
The American Cancer Society’s main concern is assisting people, making profits come second. The American Cancer Society helps patient’s life by finding cures. “For over 100 years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has worked relentlessly to save lives and create a world with less cancer. Together with millions of our supporters worldwide, we help people stay well and get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer” (American Cancer Society, 2015a). Many people in this world see the importance of the organization and find the interest in donating money or providing anything to help the cause.
One half of men and one third of women will get cancer in their lifetime. ½ million people are going to die this year, that’s more than 1,500 people per day! One in eight deaths in the world is due to cancer. Cancer causes more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Cancer is a disease that’s preventable, curable, and deadly.
Pollution is typically acknowledged as dangerous and as a contributing factor to the deterioration of the Earth. The most advanced nations in the world often have the greatest amounts of pollution — some of the most well-known are China, India, and the United States. People usually associate these areas with health risks, such as lung cancer, and contaminated air. However, in Visit Sunny Chernobyl And Other Adventures in the World’s Most Polluted Places by Andrew Blackwell, the author pinpoints the positive aspects of polluted locations. Blackwell finds beauty in the ruins and seems to gravitate toward some locations more than others; he also finds a message in one of his adventures that was more significant than the others.
With the waves crashing in front of you, the sun warming your body, and a slight breeze coming just over the dunes, you would never think you were sitting on a beach considered to be a breast cancer "hot spot." Unfortunatly, if you were sitting on certain Cape Cod beaches, that's just what you'd be doing.
Pollution is a massive problem, due to burning excessive amounts of fossil fuels and produces global warming. The rising in temperature of earth has resulted huge melting of polar ice caps, flooding of low-lying areas, and also rise in sea levels. If these conditions conquer the surface of earth it will face radical changes. Hence, the ozone holes are also being created trough this process, that creates a harmful UV rays that enters the earth surface. Apparently it affect human life trough causing diseases like cancer. Melanin that present in the skin reacts trough these high wave radiations. Skin cancer is one of the major forms of disease that known to be caused due to these reactions of the pigment present in the skin and infra-red rays. Besides that, when burnt sulphur, dioxide gas will also be produced. This factor forms acid rain. Acid rain could leads to destructions of most of monuments that were made up of brickwork or marbles. Even a lot of crops are affected due to the acidification of loams.
... This has resulted in increased pollution due to livestock releasing methane gas into the air. And due to demand for electrical goods from western countries, it has helped China to produce a capitalist economy. This has enabled China’s citizens to have a prosperous lifestyle, which has increased pollution due to the increase in energy use and waste production. Furthermore, although the Chinese government and its citizens are trying to tackle their environmental problems, it seems to be too little too late.
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Tumors are then created and interfering with the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems. It is one of the most leading causes of death, reaching at about 8.2 million deaths in 2012. It is expected that cancer will rise from 14 million to 22 million within the next 2 decades. With over 100 cancer research centers in the United States studying how to treat this disease, people need to understand the importance of donating also with the awareness of signs and symptoms in the early stages. But, what are we doing about it? Do we have the technology to finally be able to put this deadly disease to an end?
Countries such as China and Japan need to enforce more powerful regulations on the amount of carbon emissions that they produce. China put in regulations just this last year and Japan postponed plans for a national regulations on carbon emissions, bowing to powerful business groups that warned of job losses as they compete against overseas rivals facing fewer emissions regulations. It’s not a good sign that large corporations can control how a nation regulates its environmental safety laws. China is finally planning to regulate their carbon emissions. This is long over due concerting that China ranks as the world’s number one carbon dioxide emitter, thanks in part to the massive amounts of coal the country burns. China currently builds a new coal-fired power plant at a rate of about one every week to ten days. The country’s coal burning levels are nearly on par with the rest of the world combined.
Many cities are currently affected by air pollution and Hong Kong is one example. Hong Kong’s air pollution level often exceeds the recommended air pollution level put out by the World Health Organization, and Hong Kong’s pollution index was at “very high” meaning that it exceeded 101, for 34% of the time (Hunt, 2011). Another example, when Hong Kong excee...