China in a fix over toxic disposal

Published on November 17, 2008 by admin

BEIJING: China faces a new problem with the tainted milk that has sickened babies and battered public confidence: How to get rid of the toxic
stuff.

It has been burned, buried and mixed into coal. One trash-hauling company dumped a load into a river, turning the waters a frothy white and raising fears about the safety of the drinking water.

Tens of thousands of tons of milk laced with melamine, a chemical used in making fertilizer, have been pulled from shelves and warehouses since September, and local governments now face the huge — and costly — problem of safely disposing of it.

The health ministry has not released a total figure for the amount of impure dairy products recalled or said how much has been destroyed.

But last month alone, more than 32,000 tonnes — enough to fill about 23 Olympic-sized pools — were disposed of in a single province, Hebei, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

At a factory in the southern city of Guangzhou, tonnes of contaminated milk powder were incinerated in 3,000-degree heat. “All the remaining substance will be put into cement,” said Wang Fan, director of Guangzhou’s food safety office. “I can guarantee that our disposal process meets the national environmental protection requirements. It will not harm people’s health.”

Getting rid of dangerous contaminants can be challenging even in places far wealthier than China.

In the US, a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — were found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, according to an Associated Press investigation earlier this year that found 24 major metropolitan areas affected. Researchers say the pharmaceutical residues can harm fish, frogs and other aquatic life and may be harmful to people.

In Europe, tests of sewage from several hospitals in Paris and Oslo, Norway, have also uncovered hormones, antibiotics, painkillers and heart and skin medicines. Not known for making environmental safety a priority, China has gotten generally good marks so far from scientists and environmentalists in its efforts to dispose of the adulterated milk.

With confidence in the government’s food safety standards battered by the scandal, Beijing has issued new guidelines on how to destroy the tainted products. They recommend burning the milk in large-capacity incinerators or, if such facilities aren’t available, burying small amounts in landfills — as long as local environmental bureaus approve.

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