Medical contamination

Earlier this week, Chinese scientists found high concentrations of antibiotics and other medicines in the countries' rivers, according to a report in a top science journal.

River water tested by experts from the East China University of Science and Technology, Tongji and Qinghua universities was found to contain up to 68 types of antibiotics, the Beijing News cited the report as saying on Thursday.

Around 90 types of other medical ingredients were also detected, the report, published in a recent edition of theChinese Science Bulletin, found.

The substances were found "in higher concentrations than in developed countries," the report said, but didn't specify the concentrations.

Scientists tested surface water for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, including prescription medicines, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and sedatives, it said.

Around 70 percent of drugs used in China are antibiotics, while the country produces more than 33,000 tons of personal care products including medicines annually, the report said.

The highest concentrations of personal care products were found in sewage plants, livestock waste water and cropland, with the pharmaceutical industry and hospitals cited as the main sources.

Antibiotics

A doctor surnamed Zheng who answered the phone at a major hospital in the southern city of Shenzhen called on the authorities to begin testing drinking water supplies for antibiotics as soon as possible.

"The misuse of antibiotics, including the use of antibiotics in food production, is a public health problem facing China," Zheng said.

"The misuse of antibiotics gives rise to resistance, which means that [diseases] then become untreatable."

Meanwhile, Zhejiang-based environmental activist Chen Faqing said the report was another confirmation of the levels of pollution found in China's waterways.

"A lot of that pollution is in the form of antibiotics and chemicals which can be very harmful to human health," Chen said.

He said farmers of livestock, including fish, typically added antibiotics to feed, which was how it entered the human food and water supply.

"[That way] they will get a better income ... and the fish will grow faster," Chen said.

Corruption

Wu Lihong, an environmentalist from the eastern province of Jiangsu, said the news showed that air pollution isn't the only pressing environmental issue facing the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

"China has to deal not just with smog, but also pollution of its water and soil," Wu said.

He blamed an entirely corrupt political system for the problem.

"The key lies with the fact that, under such a corrupt system, no one finds a way to shut down these factories that don't manage [pollution] properly," Wu said.

"Talking about it is just hot air," he said. "These factories are pumping out their waste, and the local governments are protecting them."

"No one is thinking about the generations to come; they only think of their own profit."

He said China's environmental legislation, which is exemplary and comprehensive on paper, has little effect in practice.

"These laws are really just a way of bamboozling the public," Wu said.


Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Ho Shan for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.


This is China, but what about where you live? 
Are you safe?
Finally the time has come for us to have to suspect everything we take in to our bodies.

The abrupt loss of contact with the Malaysia Airlines flight has led prominent aviation experts to speculate a catastrophe such as an explosion or lost freight door ended the plane's flight.

Aviation expert and editor of airlineratings.com Geoffrey Thomas told Fairfax Media he suspected the plane was involved in a "sudden catastrophic explosion" because no mayday call or other warning was made.

Mr Thomas, who has been involved in the aviation industry for 35 years, speculated such an explosion could be caused by either a terrorist bomb or a cargo door ripping away from the craft.

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But he pointed out the latter incident had not occurred widely since the 1970s, and had never occurred in the nearly faultless history of the Boeing 777 since it was launched in 1995.

In fact Mr Thomas said the craft has only been involved in one fatal crash – which was ultimately ruled to be "pilot error" – when the plane crashed into a runway seawall during a landing at San Francisco International Airport last year. Three people were killed and hundreds injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines has never experienced a crash.

"The whole industry is shocked. Malaysia Airlines has a great reputation and excellent record with its pilots, and the Boeing triple seven is the backbone of the many airline fleets across the globe," he said.

Other aviation commentators are reluctant to point to a cause, stating that a proper investigation is required.

"It's a very capable, impressive and quite luxurious vehicle," Central Queensland University aviation academic Ron Bishop told Fairfax Media.

There are currently 924 ''triple sevens'' in operation, with the largest fleet (of 87 jets) belonging to Emirates airlines. The aircraft is also used by Virgin.

"These are planes which have been trusted to fly long distances, over millions of hours. Everything is so tracked and measured with these jets, so it's very surprising to hear this news," Professor Bishop said.

"Things like this very, very rarely happen these days – you've got a better chance of winning the lottery."

Mr Thomas has dismissed any concerns the 27-year-old co-pilot may have been lacking the flight experience to operate the vehicle, considering he had 2700 hours' experience, compared to the 18,000 hours accumulated by his head pilot.

"Malaysia Airlines co-pilots have always been well-trained and this particular co-pilot has over seven years experience with the airline,'' Mr Thomas said.

"I do not believe this was pilot or aircraft error,'' he said.

If the aircraft is discovered to have crashed, investigators will aim to recover the aircraft's flight data recorder, which measures engine movements, hydraulics and technical indicators, and the cockpit voice recorder to determine the exact cause of the incident.

Professor Bishop noted the incident had occurred amid a significant increase in the number of passengers travelling over recent years.

"The average Australian flies about 2.5 times per year, and this kind of increase is occurring around the world. So it's the same principle as if there were more cars on the road – statistically, there's going to be an increased number of accidents," he said.

Aviation and crisis communication expert Hamish McLean said with over 5000 planes in the air at any one time, the occasional loss of an aircraft was a rare event, and particularly shocking considering the carrier belonged to a respected and well-known airline.

"There's a lot of uncertainty over what's happened, and the trouble is, all we have is speculation which just adds to the distress for the airline and the relatives of those passengers onboard," he said.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/plane-involved-in-malaysia-airlines-incident-one-of-worlds-most-popular-20140308-34e4s.html#ixzz2vMwbQhcS

Well, there hasn't been an aeroplane accident for a while. I hope the six Australians are still alive.


Kazaguruma no Noah