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| how environmental contaminants harm children |
| 2003年09月04日14:14:55 网易教育 by Disqualification Controversy |
June 7th, 2003
Rosanne Skirble
Washington, DC
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I’m Rosanne Skirble. Today, a rolling robot that can see sharper, explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever explored Mars is set to blast off to the red planet. And, we have two reports on how environmental contaminants harm children.
The skies around Mars are expected to get busier soon, and traffic on the ground will increase, too. The United States, Europe, and Japan are sending spacecraft and landers to give us our broadest and closest view, ever, of the Red Planet. The European and Japanese craft are already on their way, and the first of two US probes is to go up Sunday. VOA's David McAlary reports that a major goal is to find water and life.
This week the United Nations marked World Environment Day, an occasion celebrated each year during the first week of June. The UN Environment Program used the event to call on the global community to work harder to safeguard the world's fresh water resources.
The UN says water-related diseases kill a child every eight seconds and are responsible for 80 per cent of all illnesses and deaths in the developing world. If people had access to clean water, UN officials say, most of these deaths could be prevented. But clean water is likely to become even rarer.
Officials at the UN Environment Program say that within 25 years, half the world's six billion people could have trouble finding fresh water for drinking and irrigation. They say steps must be taken now, starting with more effective measures to preserve and manage existing supplies of fresh water, to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.
Michael Williams, a spokesman for the U-N Environment Program, says one of the reasons there is a health crisis in Africa is that many people do not have access to supplies of fresh water.
“They lead to a lot of health problems. The water quality is damaged by being polluted by human waste and other pollutants. So, the problem is visible there day by day. And, the problem they will face is that there is a growing demand for more fresh water. And as new infrastructure is created and so forth, they will come into an impossible situation.” HOST: U-N statistics show one person in six lives without regular access to safe drinking water. Mr. Williams says fresh water supplies also are running out in wealthy countries. Although water there continues to flow out of the taps, he says much of the groundwater is being depleted.
“For many people, water has been considered essentially a free commodity. And, therefore, there has not been much incentive to use it efficiently. We certainly have the problem of infrastructure not receiving the necessary investments and therefore a lot of wastage as pipes leak and so forth. We see a lot of conflicts again over who politically controls water. So, for example, certain agricultural interests might have an advantage in using water for crops perhaps that are very water intensive and are being grown in dry countries.”
Mr. Williams says human demands for water are also depleting the world's rivers and wetlands. And, this, he adds, will have a lasting impact on the world's bio-diversity as many different kinds of migratory birds, fish and animals depend on these systems.
As we’ve reported, millions of children die every year from problems linked to the environment. They die from diarrhea because the water they drink is contaminated and their living conditions are unsanitary. They die from acute respiratory infection because the air they breathe is polluted. They die from chemical poisoning, from malaria and other vector- borne diseases. They also die from unintentional injuries. The World Health Organization says most of these tragic deaths are preventable. As Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva, people individually and collectively, can take some simple, inexpensive measures to make life better for children. AUDIO CUT: LISA SCHLEIN/GENEVA TEXT: The children are leading a cheer. The two dozen nine to fourteen-year-olds feel proud of themselves. They have just completed another project to beautify their neighborhood. These children were made homeless by the 1998 El Nino, which hit the pretty Ecuadorian coastal city of Bahia de Caroquez. They belong to a pioneering after-school Eco-kids club. They make boxes, cards, bags and other artifacts from recycled paper. They sell these goods and use the money for environmental projects such as planting trees and flowers. They are learning to respect the environment and are making a difference in the lives of people who live in this poor, deprived Community. The Eco-kids club is an example of how people, even in the poorest settings, can take charge and make the environments in which they live healthier. AUDIO CUT: BRUNDTLAND “There’s a direct link from the environment to people because all our illnesses are affected by where we live, where we move around, what we breathe and what we eat.” TEXT: Director-General of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland says five million children die each year from conditions related to their environments. These include 1.3 million children who die of diarrhea, more than two million who die of acute respiratory infection and nearly one million children under age five who die of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. She says other vector-borne diseases such as schistosomiasis and dengue fever also cause problems. AUDIO CUT: BRUNDTLAND “If we have environments which are protected and where these vectors are not being given the opportunity to reach the children or to develop, we will have much lower incidents of these childhood killers.” TEXT: The Eco-kids agree. They are publishing a newspaper that gives ecologically sound advice and discusses environmental problems and threats affecting the community. Twelve- year-old Katie proudly points to an article that describes a campaign to rid the neighborhood of Dengue fever. AUDIO CUT: KATIE “Me and my friends have been going to peoples’ houses asking them very politely if we can check their water tanks for the mosquito larva which causes dengue fever. And, when we find larva, we scoop it away with our little nets.” AUDIO CUT: NABARRO “It’s only really during the last three or four years that we’ve understood just how many threats lurk within the environment in which children live, particularly the world’s poorer children. TEXT: David Nabarro is W-H-O Executive Director for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments. He says there are many threats in the home, in the school and the playground, which can endanger a child’s health. AUDIO CUT: NABARRO “I’m talking about lack of access to sufficient clean water. Or I’m talking about lack of sanitation with the therefore increasing likelihood that germs of various kinds will affect the child and get into the mouth. I’m talking about difficulties of maintaining hygiene. We’re also worried about dirty air—polluted air, polluted air in the community and polluted air in the home. TEXT: W-H-O Medical Officer, Jenny Pronczuk says burning biomass fuels in the home creates acrid smoke and that causes chest infections. AUDIO CUT: PRONCZUK “If you’re in a hut in the middle of Africa, the main risk is mosquitoes out of the hut. And, that child is going to be exposed to carbon monoxide, to particulate material because this smoke is inside a hut with no ventilation.” AUDIO CUT: VON SCHIRNDING “The home should be a place where children feel safe and secure and where they can grow up eventually into healthy adults.” TEXT: Yasmin von Shirnding is Manager of W-H-O’s Program for Healthy Environments for Children’s Alliance. AUDIO CUT: VON SCHIRNDING “Of course, in many cases around the world that isn’t the situation at all. In fact, it’s just the opposite and children are exposed to a wide range of hazards in and around the home environment.” TEXT: Dr. von Schirnding says the linkages between environment and health can no longer be ignored. She notes a growing body of evidence shows that problems affecting children’s lives can be best overcome by taking an integrated, holistic approach. AUDIO CUT: VON SCHIRNDING “In the past, the environment sector has tended to work very much on its own and the health sector also in isolation. And, it’s really only recently, in about the last five years in particular, we’ve seen these two sectors coming together and working much more closely together. And, I think one of the reasons is the follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development had a strong emphasis on different sectors working together.” TEXT: The World Health Organization says most of the five million child deaths are preventable. It acknowledges that the problems are huge. But says the solutions are relatively simple and inexpensive. For example, washing hands with soap and water can prevent the spread of germs. This simple act alone can reduce diarrhea by a third. Studies show that the number of deaths from malaria can be reduced by a quarter or more when children sleep under insecticide-treated bed-nets. TEXT: The World Health Organization says healthy environments create healthy children. And, healthy children create hope for the future. I’m Lisa Schlein in Geneva. BRIDGE HOST: A new study says the Bush Administration’s policies have failed to protect American children from life-threatening environmental health risks. One million children in the United States suffer from dangerous amounts of lead in their bodies. Lead poisoning can lower intelligence, delay puberty and increase behavioral problems. Children don’t have to eat lead-based paint chips to get sick. They can be harmed by just having contact with lead dust or residue. Ten-year old Saliza Stalworth is a case in point. Her mother says her daughter’s condition has been a problem since the child was a toddler. AUDIO CUT: SALIZA STALWORTH “She has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.) She has behavior problems. She has phobias. They told me she could have long term side effects to having lead and so far it has been true.” TEXT: The new study is called “Are Children Left Behind?: Children’s Environmental Health Under the Bush Administration.” It contends that the White House is not doing enough to support effective child health protection initiatives. Published by the Washington-based Children’s Environmental Health Network – a privately funded advocacy group - the report criticizes the administration for weakening the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s office of Children’s Health Protection and by under-funding the National Children’s Study. That’s a long-term research initiative designed to examine the impact of the environment on the health of 100,000 children across the United States. Rabbi Daniel Swartz - executive director of the Children’s Environmental Health Network - explains the objective of their new report: AUDIO CUT: DANIEL SWARTZ “We wanted to review overall what has been going on in terms of policies affecting children’s environmental health in the past couple of years to get a big picture of things. (We wanted) to see what kind of trends are there, and then be able to make recommendations for ways to improve policy to protect kids better.” TEXT: The report applauds the administration for its proposals to regulate the pollution from diesel engines and to develop guidelines to assess cancer health risks among children. Daniel Swartz says while these initiatives are a step in the right direction, he is troubled by the lack of long-term financial support. He says that an economic analysis of the budget shows that children are shortchanged. AUDIO CUT: DANIEL SWARTZ “Right now there are systems in place that essentially, at a very steep rate, discount the future, so that every ten years, the future is worth half as much as the present and so twenty years out you are talking a quarter as much. That way there is really no incentive to do long term planning to take care of problems that will effect the next generation. So, that is a major issue that needs to be addressed if we are actually going to take care of kids." TEXT: Environmental Protection Agency official Liz Blackburn says she expects that National Children’s Study will survive budget cuts. AUDIO CUT: LIZ BLACKBURN “The National Children’s Study is critical to understanding the relationship between environmental contaminants and children’s health. And, so we are hoping that we will be able to find commitments from Congress and from others that they can support this National Children’s Study. The National Children’s Study was authorized in 2000 by the Child Health Act. We do need to make sure that it is adequately funded.” TEXT: Daniel Swartz is not so sure it will be, given the current political and economic climate in the United States. AUDIO CUT: DANIEL SWARTZ “I think that it is harder in the present political climate, both because there’s antagonism to anything that is connected with the environment, which is unfortunate. (The Administration) sees the environment as something that is out there, very ‘whales and wilderness’ that doesn’t have anything to do with me, and obviously it is very intimately connected to our health and wellbeing.”
TEXT: Daniel Swartz also faults the Bush administration for blocking domestic and international initiatives to protect children from lead, mercury, and harmful fertilizers and for its reversal of a regulation to control emissions from old power plants. AUDIO CUT: DANIEL SWARTZ “So there is not really an incentive in place right now for cleaning up old plants. Those tend to be in the older dirtier power plants in heavily African American or Hispanic communities, lower income communities. You do have concentrated health effects around them. You also have large area effects from things being broadcast in the air.” TEXT: Liz Blackburn, with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Children’s Health Protection, looks at the issue another way. In defending Bush administration policy, she says that progress has been made both at home and abroad. AUDIO CUT:LIZ BLACKBURN “Internationally, I think EPA (has been) a leader in making sure that the globe, the world, started to look at indicators in children’s health. (We look at) the trends in environmental contaminants, the trends in the health effects that might be related to environmental contaminants, and what then as a world community can we all do together. We have worked with states to make sure we are supporting their efforts to protect children’s health. States have a huge responsibility in enforcing environmental regulations. I think one of the most outstanding things that has happened in recent times is the childhood cancer guidelines. I think the agency and the government have made very terrific steps to really improving the way we do our risk analysis assessment as it relates to cancer.” TEXT: Nevertheless, Daniel Swartz and the Children’s Environmental Health Network, aligned with over 40 other US advocacy groups, hope that their report will spur badly needed initiatives in Washington to further shield American children from environmental hazards. BRIDGE
TEXT: In our final report on the Goldman Environmental Prize – the world’s top award for grassroots activism - we meet a Peruvian woman who is leading efforts to undo the environmental havoc wreaked by her country’s fishmeal industry.
SFX FROM CLIPBOARD, SNEAK ABOVE AND HOLD UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS
TEXT: The primary colors of the city where Maria Elena Foronda Farro lives on the northern coast of Peru are white, red, and black. The town, she says, is enveloped with pollutants that spew from the smokestacks of fishmeal factories. Peru is the world’s largest producer of fishmeal, a product used in animal feed and fertilizers. Chimbote, she says, is at the industry’s epicenter. AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FONONDA FARO -- ESTABLISH IN SPANISH AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: “Chimbote used to be a beautiful area for fisherman,” she says. “Imagine a white sandy beach, blue seas and wetlands. Then in less than five years in the 1960s 42 factories sprung up and the population exploded from 4,000 to 40,000.” SFX OF CHIMBOTE, ESTABLISH AND HOLD UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS Today Chimbote has 300,000 residents and is the third largest and third most polluted city in Peru. TEXT: The growth was unplanned. Factories were built next to homes and schools. And, she says, the place smelled. In Chimbote there is a saying, “where it stinks there is money” meaning for this town that economic growth and pollution go hand in hand. Maria Elena Foronda Farro – the daughter of a union organizer – was educated outside Peru, but moved back to Chimbote in the mid-1980s to do volunteer social work. She was appalled by living conditions in the shantytowns near the factories and the effect of pollution on the impoverished people of Chimbote. AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FORONDA FARRO – ESTABLISH AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: “Think about it,” she says, “being exposed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to these contaminating gases. The people here suffer from allergies, skin diseases, and respiratory diseases like asthma and other pulmonary problems.” And, in 1991 she says, “the unsanitary conditions set the stage for the worst modern outbreak of cholera.” TEXT: The factory emissions and waste have also seriously degraded the coastal ecosystem and marine environment. AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FORONDA FARRO – ESTABLISH AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: She says, “The sea is so murky that the sun’s rays can not penetrate the waters. Photosynthesis can not take place. There is hardly any ocean life in this zone. Fishermen used to fish here, but now they have to take their small boats hours off shore.” “So,” she says, “we are talking about a health problem and an economic problem.” TEXT: Maria Elena Foronda Farro says the situation was desperate when she began a grassroots campaign to bring the issues to the attention of the local and national government. She founded Natura, a conservation group, and helped neighborhoods organize through local “Citizen Environmental Vigilance Committees” to investigate, monitor and negotiate with fishmeal companies to curb their toxic pollution. But the road to change has not been easy. In 1994, Maria Elena Foronda Farro was accused of connections with the terrorist group the Shining Path and sentenced to 20 years in prison. AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FORONDA FARRO – ESTABLISH BRIEFLY AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: “I was falsely accused,” she says, “and later cleared by the Supreme Court in Peru, which ordered my release after thirteen months.” She says her imprisonment attracted support from international environmental and human rights groups. It also reinforced her commitment to raise health and pollution standards and to forge new alliances locally, nationally and internationally. AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FORONDA FARRO – ESTABLISH BRIEFLY AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: “We have gotten the Chimbote local government to incorporate environmental concerns into its fifteen year strategic development plan,” she says. “And on a regional and national level, we are working with industry to promote sustainable fishing practices.” Eight of the twenty-six fishmeal companies in Chimbote have implemented clean technology practices in their plants. And the schools have environmental clubs for students. Chimbote is slowly changing. “Environmental protection,” she says, “is recognized as a basic human right.” AUDIO CUT: MARIA ELENA FORONDA FARRO – ESTABLISH BREIFLY AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS TEXT: “But the most important thing,” she says, “is that the people believe in what they do.” “And,” she adds, “this work has given our people back their dignity and self esteem. The Goldman Prize is not just about me, Maria Elena Foronda Farro,” she says. “Our success is because of thousands of others throughout Latin America who are working to create a more habitable planet ruled by social justice.” OW MUSIC CLOSE, SNEAK ABOVE AND UNDER TEXT THAT FOLLOWS HOST: And that wraps up another edition of Our World. If you have any comments or questions about the show, please write to us at “Our World, Voice of America, Washington, DC, 20237 USA, or send us an e-mail note to ourworld@voanews.com. The program editor is Rob Sivak. Eva Nenicka is the technical director. Thanks for reporting from our intern Rachel Loube. I’m Rosanne Skirble. Join us again at the same time next week, for another radio expedition into...Our World. MD: OUR WORLD CLOSING THEME (up full, hold for fill to 26:00)
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