Consumer & Environment Issues

consumer analysis and impact on environment

Fully equipped, riding Superman!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

I finally got the type of mask I was looking for, to use on my bike when pollution is getting too bad, like today: well above 200 AQI. I tried all the other usual ones, none worked as my glasses became foggy and I could not really breathe.
This one (3M) works OK, as it has valves for incoming and outgoing air. Tested today for the first time.


So now, fully equipped with my little SUPERMAN bike – no joke, that is actually the BAT brand’s model name as I discovered a couple of weeks after buying it. It is a small and simple bike, no gears, giving me extra exercise when climbing a little or when it’s windy. I already bike fast enough like this, often passing e-bikes. But I would have preferred to ride SUPERWOMAN
Important is, it brings me around, even to Lido Hotel (twice). Rain, snow, freezing or sauna weather are normally not able to stop me.
Translation of the (Dutch) sign: “One more car less”!  (WEER EEN AUTO MINDER, from 11.11.11)
And if the crazies in DPRK start a chemical war I might be well enough prepared. The filter stops a lot of bad stuff! And it does not allow me to scold the unruly Chinese in my path.

Watching the sandstorm in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

This year sandstorms seem to be earlier and nastier. After a rather cold winter and the worst air pollution in years, now we will face the sand during spring.
Interesting is that the pollution readings during windy conditions and sand storm are inverted: suddenly the U.S. embassy looks much better.
The only explanation I have is that Beijing still looks at PM10 while the embassy does not (only PM2.5), with the dust and sand brought by the wind, PM2.5 goes down, PM10 goes up.
See the reading and a view of WTC3 from my home: the haze is dust and sand and not so much pollution.


Anyway, hope it will calm down when heading to my KTV in the evening…

Environmental watchdog admits to ‘cancer village’ phenomenon

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

See the SCMP article of 21 February, 2013 by Ernest Kao
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1155528/environmental-watchdog-admits-cancer-village-phenomenon
In my book I mention several of the cancer villages and why they exist (e.g. the manufacturing of jeans, jewelry, lingerie …). The term refers to villages, often located close to industrial parks or factories where villagers get sick with cancer.
I also share the opinion that water pollution and scarcity in China is the major threat and the topic is a large chapter in my book. Now it being confirmed again that water pollution is so severe now that close to 70% of the mainland’s lakes and rivers and over 90% of groundwater in urban areas are too contaminated for even animals to drink from.
About 40% of locations the ministry has been monitoring contained water deemed unsafe for human consumption, despite multibillion-dollar clean-up efforts by the government.
Severe chemical pollution in China’s water systems has caused the spread of “cancer villages”, the country’s top environmental watchdog admitted as the Ministry of Environmental Protection published a list of so-called cancer villages on the mainland.
It also confirmed that the levels of pollutants – including endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) which interfere with human hormones – in China’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters had surpassed international levels and the situation was now “very grim”.
Levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), compounds resistant to environmental degradation and are a known carcinogen, were also reported at dangerously high levels. Many of the chemicals have already been phased out by developed countries, it said.
According to the report, 40,000 types of chemicals were being used in China and about 3,000 of them contained “poisonous, corrosive, explosive or combustible properties” (see full report in Chinese)
In 2010, investigative journalist Deng Fei created a widely-circulated Google Map graphic illustrating the locations of at least 100 cancer villages across China. Recent estimates put the figure at 400.

View 中国癌症村地 China Cancer Villages Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=209600870352189728478.000469611a28a0d8a22dd&ll=29.568591,112.286465&spn=22.144692,16.301284&t=m&source=embed
Hopefully, improvement is on the way.

Gilbert comments on biking issues in China Daily

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

My letter was published, see:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2013-02/27/content_16259243.htm
Don’t forget us cyclists, 27 February:
(China Daily 02/27/2013 page 9)
I applaud all the efforts being made to expand the subway and bus networks in Beijing. It is an important contribution to improve Beijing’s air quality. However, too little attention is paid to cyclists like me.
The city is putting a total of 50,000 rental bikes on the streets, but we cyclists are considered second class citizens.
Cars obstruct the bike lanes, and pedestrians love to walk in the lanes while they have all the space on the side walks.
People have a total disregard for us and if we complain we get very angry remarks. When will the police and the authorities act to guarantee the cyclists’ interests?
Gilbert, via e-mail
Now if only someone would do something about it…

The cover-up of China’s soil pollution

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

“Report on mainland China’s soil pollution a ‘state secret’”, article in SCMP, 26 February:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1158602/report-mainland-soil-pollution-state-secret
Ministry rejects request to make findings of five-year study of ground contamination public, leaving critics wondering what’s being hidden.
I love the statement. In other words: “Yes the situation is very grave, to the point you better don’t know, because this is China policy”. How more clear can that be. In my book I mention some data on soil pollution in China: agricultural land, 10% contaminated with heavy metals – official figure probably too low; contaminated soil under new apartment blocks. Add to that the alarming levels of water pollution, in rivers, lakes and underground, then you get the picture. Fortunately the Chinese people don’t swallow anymore the empty talk of the government. Yes, when will they learn “Serve the People”?