Patient Waiting for Treatment at Hospital in China
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Patient at Hospital in China
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Resident's Health Affected by Exposure to Heavy Metals in China
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Patients at Huayuan People's Hospital in China
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Patients at Hospital in China
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Girls' Health Affected by Exposure to Heavy Metals in China
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Girl's Health Affected by Exposure to Heavy Metals in China
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Wang Qiang (alias) waits for hemodialysis treatment at hospital. The more than one hour ride from home to the hospital added to the time of the treatment itself means that Wang spends the whole day to get hemodialysis.
Wang Qiang grew up in Laowangzhai village, Hunan province, and was born in 1985, at a time when the lead and zinc mines started to develop in the province.
Two decades of lead and zinc mining in the area has taken a major toll. The population of the villages, most of who are ethnically Miao, has experienced severe health impacts as a result of heavy metal exposure.
Wang became ill and was diagnosed with uremia, a complication of chronic kidney disease. In the last few years, the medical treatments cost his family hundreds of thousands yuan. Currently, he gets three hemodialysis treatments per week, which add up to more than 10,000 yuan per year. If he does not get the treatments for three days, he will suffer from symptoms of fatigue and dizziness.
王强在医院等待透析
从老王寨村到花垣县人民医院进行血液透析,需要花费一个多小时的路程时间,透析过程则耗费数小时。每隔一天去医院透析。如此反复,透析成为王强生活的主要内容。
© Qiu Bo / Greenpeace
Toxics (campaign title)
Impacts of Toxic Waste from Heavy Metal Mining on Local Population in Hunan Province, China
A documentation showing the severe health impacts of heavy metal mines on the local population in Hunan province.
In May 2017, Greenpeace East Asia was informed about a case of severe soil pollution across five neighboring villages in Hunan Province, China. Hunan is China's largest rice producer, but the province's fertile rice paddies are interspersed with heavy metal mines, a combination that has led to dangerously high levels of soil pollution.
Yet available information about the extent of soil pollution in Hunan is limited.
Two decades of lead and zinc mining in these five villages has taken a major toll. The population of the villages, most of who are ethnically Miao, has experienced severe health impacts as a result of heavy metal exposure.
Eighty to 90 percent of the population in these five villages has kidney stones, and, each year, an average of 40 additional patients suffer from uremia, a complication of chronic kidney disease. In 2014, blood lead levels of all but one child tested in the villages exceeded the national standard.
In response, residents petitioned the local government and were seen blocking trucks heading to and from the mine to ask for compensation.
Greenpeace East Asia tested soil samples from the area. For the majority of samples, cadmium, arsenic, lead and zinc exceeded the national standard. Rice samples also tested above the national standard for chromium and lead, and, in several cases, arsenic. A more detailed breakdown of the results is available.
Lead and Zinc Mine Tailing Ponds Surrounding Villages in Hunan Province, China