Environmental consequences of China’s development don’t only affect the poor, according to a Xinhua report:
Disputes over office air quality are on the rise in recent years. In some cases, employees have sued their bosses for provided an unhealthful work environment; in other cases, building management and furniture makers have been sued for using unhealthful decorations and furniture materials.
The China National Interior Decoration Association (CNIDA) sampled the air in several high-grade office buildings in Beijing last year, and it turned out 81 per cent of the locations exceeded the safety levels for ammonia, 50 per cent for ozone and 42 per cent for formaldehyde all hazardous elements known to cause illnesses such as Legionnaires’ disease, asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and humidifier fever.
Information on China’s more common indoor air pollution problem”the burning coal for heat and cooking in rural homes”appears in this report (2003) from Environment News Service.
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