mom person
07-14-2008, 11:09 AM
Study: Closing coal-burning power plant in China cut rate of toddlers' development problems
The Associated Press
Published: July 14, 2008
BANGKOK, Thailand — Children born after the closure of a coal-burning plant in China had 60 percent fewer developmental problems, a study released Monday suggests, giving ammunition to those who argue the country should embrace cleaner sources of energy.
The study in the peer-reviewed Environmental Health Perspectives journal found that after the coal plant was shut in the midwestern city of Tongliang, pregnant mothers living in the area had far less exposure to pollutants and their children showed significantly fewer delays in developing motor skills such as muscle coordination by the age of 2.
"This study provides direct evidence that the Chinese government's action to shut down a polluting power plant had measurable benefits on the development of children," said Frederica Perera, lead author of the study and the director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York.
"These findings have major implications for environmental health and energy policy in China and elsewhere," she said.
The study tested the development of two groups of about 100 children, one group born before the Tongliang coal plant's closure in 2004 and the other born after it was shut.
Barbara Finamore, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's China program whose group helped researchers identify a site, said she was hopeful the findings would persuade authorities to weigh the affordability of coal against the health costs.
more at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/14/asia/AS-China-Coal-Pollution.php
The Associated Press
Published: July 14, 2008
BANGKOK, Thailand — Children born after the closure of a coal-burning plant in China had 60 percent fewer developmental problems, a study released Monday suggests, giving ammunition to those who argue the country should embrace cleaner sources of energy.
The study in the peer-reviewed Environmental Health Perspectives journal found that after the coal plant was shut in the midwestern city of Tongliang, pregnant mothers living in the area had far less exposure to pollutants and their children showed significantly fewer delays in developing motor skills such as muscle coordination by the age of 2.
"This study provides direct evidence that the Chinese government's action to shut down a polluting power plant had measurable benefits on the development of children," said Frederica Perera, lead author of the study and the director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York.
"These findings have major implications for environmental health and energy policy in China and elsewhere," she said.
The study tested the development of two groups of about 100 children, one group born before the Tongliang coal plant's closure in 2004 and the other born after it was shut.
Barbara Finamore, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's China program whose group helped researchers identify a site, said she was hopeful the findings would persuade authorities to weigh the affordability of coal against the health costs.
more at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/14/asia/AS-China-Coal-Pollution.php