China cancels waste project after protests turn violent

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Taiwan finds H5N1 virus in birds smuggled from China

"File picture of a man (right) giving his pet budgerigars a shower to cool off from the summer heat in Beijing on July 2010. Dozens of pet birds smuggled from southern China into Taiwan tested positive for the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus and were destroyed, Taiwanese authorities said Tuesday. (AFP Photo/)" title

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UN limits melamine in formula after China scandal

A U.N. commission has set a recommended limit on the amount of melamine allowed in liquid infant formula after a 2008 scandal in China in which six babies died from drinking formula and milk products containing the industrial chemical.

Two years ago, the U.N. food security body known as the Codex Alimentarius Commission set the maximum limit of melamine in powdered infant formula at 1 milligram per kilogram of formula. On Wednesday, the commission said it had adopted a limit for liquid formula at 0.15 milligrams/kilogram.

The recommendations are not binding. The commission, which is jointly run by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, is made up of 184 government representatives plus the European Commission.

Melamine is used to make dishes and kitchenware, and trace amounts can sometimes get into food from packaging. In China, melamine was being added to watered-down milk to elevate protein levels. In addition to the six deaths, some 300,000 babies became sick after consuming the tainted formula and milk.

The U.N. commission also made recommendations to limit the spread of salmonella and listeria in pre-packaged melon slices. Codex said the exposed pulp from the fruit can become a breeding ground for bacteria and that the risk was increasing since melon is increasingly being sold in easy-to-eat slices. It recommended that melon be wrapped quickly and refrigerated at 4 degrees Centigrade (39.2 Fahrenheit) or less.

And Codex issued a warning about dried figs: the fruit can host carcinogenic aflaxotoxins, which are produced by mold, if not stored properly. The commission agreed to limit the amount of aflaxotoxins in dried figs at 10 micrograms/kilogram.

The commission, which wraps up its meeting Saturday, is expected to make recommendations on a big issue in livestock circles: the use of growth-promoting veterinary drugs. The commission plans to set maximum residue limits for these drugs, though its members are deeply divided on the issue.

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In China, 1 in 10 TB cases are drug-resistant

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China faces 'serious' epidemic of drug-resistant TB

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China says only it has right to monitor air pollution

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China tells US to stop reporting Beijing's bad air

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China tells US to stop tweets on Beijing's bad air

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China study finds mine workers at higher risk of cancer, heart disease

Reuters – 40 mins ago HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese workers who are exposed to silica dust in mines, and pottery and gemstone factories suffer not only from respiratory illnesses, but are at higher risk of contracting heart and infectious diseases and cancer, researchers in China have found.

Silica is a compound found in sand and rock. When rocks are drilled or broken, fine silica dust particles are produced that lodge deep in the lungs and can lead to scarring, severe respiratory problems and death.

Researchers monitoring the health of 74,040 mine and pottery workers over an average of 33 years found that they suffered a far higher risk of contracting a range of diseases compared with people who were not exposed.

"In addition to a higher risk of respiratory disease, we see a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease in exposed workers. This is a new discovery," said Professor Weihong Chen at the School of Public Health, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province.

"Before we were mostly concerned about respiratory diseases ... as to whether it raises the risk of cancer, we can give a definite answer: We see a heightened risk of lung cancer in workers exposed to silica."

Compared with people operating in cleaner environments, workers exposed to silica were nearly seven times more likely to contract infectious diseases, nearly five times more susceptible to respiratory tuberculosis and nearly twice as vulnerable to cardiovascular disease, Chen and colleagues said in a paper published this week in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

Exposed workers who have spent at least a year in either metal mines or pottery factories were found to be nearly twice as susceptible to cancers of the nose and throat.

More than 23 million workers in China and more than 10 million in India are exposed to silica dust. This occupational health hazard is also present in the developed world, with 1.7 million people in the United States and 3 million in Europe similarly exposed.

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 24,000 workers in China die each year from silicosis - a disease caused by silica penetrating deep into the lungs, causing inflammation and scarring. Many victims die relatively young, in their mid-40s, according to social workers.

Medical research has also estimated that one in two former gold miners has silicosis in South Africa, where gold mines employed as many as 500,000 people in the 1980s.

Chen said she hoped the study would help lead to work place interventions.

"We recommend that worksites control levels of such pollutants; it's a public health problem. Through changes in the work environment, we can reduce the risk of disease and (early) death," she said. "Factories can use stronger ventilators, and more effective masks for workers will reduce silica exposure."

The full paper is available at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001206

(Editing by Chris Lewis)

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China suspends sale of drugs in unsafe capsules

China's State Food and Drug Administration has suspended the sale of 13 drugs that it says are believed to have been made with capsules that contain excessive chromium.

State broadcaster CCTV ran a report Monday quoting the administration as saying it has started an investigation into the case.

The report says the capsules were made from industrial gelatin, which has more chromium than edible gelatin.

China suffers from a slew of food and drug safety problems and faces an uphill battle eliminating the rampant use of illegal additives and drugs, which are often churned out by makeshift chemical factories.

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China aims for 74.5 years life expectancy: minister

In China, life expectancy should …

In China, life expectancy should reach 74.5 years by 2015, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said on Thursday.

"In truth, the goal even closer to my heart is 75 years," the minister told a press conference organised by the Franco-Chinese Foundation for Science and its Applications.

In 2009, life expectancy at birth in China was 73 years, according to the World Bank.

Chen, a hematology specialist who once practiced at a Paris hospital, said China aimed to improved its health system by 2015 to ensure "universal access to basic services".

Reforms have so far allowed for the setting up of a basic health insurance system, especially in the countryside, said the minister, adding that "10 years ago, farmers had nothing".

Infant mortality has also been dropping for the past three years and moves are afoot to establish a universal health insurance system, he said.

China has also decided to regulate the price of medicine and publish "a catalogue of essential drugs," he added.

Efforts in China to widen access to medical care and improve health insurance have made impressive headway, but 173 million Chinese still face "catastrophic" health expenses, according to research carried out by Chinese statisticians led by Sarah Barber in the World Health Organisation's Beijing office and recently published by the Lancet medical magazine.

The reforms were initiated in 2003 after liberalisation led to the introduction of medical fees and opened disparities between cities and the countryside, leaving many with spiralling health costs and worsening care.

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China diabetics raise stakes for healthcare reform

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