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Abstract
Environmental risk factors, especially air and water pollution, are a major source
of morbidity and mortality in China. Biomass fuel and coal are burned for cooking
and heating in almost all rural and many urban households, resulting in severe indoor
air pollution that contributes greatly to the burden of disease. Many communities
lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and thus the risk of waterborne
disease in many regions is high. At the same time, China is rapidly industrialising
with associated increases in energy use and industrial waste. Although economic growth
from industrialisation has improved health and quality of life indicators, it has
also increased the release of chemical toxins into the environment and the rate of
environmental disasters, with severe effects on health. Air quality in China's cities
is among the worst in the world, and industrial water pollution has become a widespread
health hazard. Moreover, emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases from energy
use are rapidly increasing. Global climate change will inevitably intensify China's
environmental health troubles, with potentially catastrophic outcomes from major shifts
in temperature and precipitation. Facing the overlap of traditional, modern, and emerging
environmental dilemmas, China has committed substantial resources to environmental
improvement. The country has the opportunity to address its national environmental
health challenges and to assume a central role in the international effort to improve
the global environment.
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