Seems like the masks are a symptom of our society, sorta like recycling, where we take a minor rather inefectual step in the grand scheme of things, and convince ourselves that we are dealing with the problem.
Event's like this, and the trashing or recycled stuff, strengthens the skeptic's stance that our minor positive actions are ineffective.
They are only ineffective where they delude us into thinking they are enough.
Event's like this, and the trashing or recycled stuff, strengthens the skeptic's stance that our minor positive actions are ineffective.
They are only ineffective where they delude us into thinking they are enough.
1
Also dangerous are the pollutants that the Chinese people cannot see. The masks worn by Chinese citizens, whether real or counterfeit, do nothing to stop the other pollutants spewed in China including sulfur dioxide, heavy metals and the many persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
I feel sorry for this huge population of humanity being slowly poisoned.
I feel sorry for this huge population of humanity being slowly poisoned.
3
These people are facing life threatening levels of pollution, yet cling to the idea that even legitimate surgical masks can protect them. They can't. While the real surgical masks will pick up some of the particulate matter, they can't filter out the PM 2.5 and smaller chemical particles that will still lodge in the lungs. China will in the coming years will face an epidemic of lung diseases, including cancer.
Their only hope is a vigorous environmental movement that can get the government to drastically reduce coal burning plants. For millions it's already too late. But for the future, both for the Chinese and the rest of the world, we cannot consume at this rate and survive as a species.
Their only hope is a vigorous environmental movement that can get the government to drastically reduce coal burning plants. For millions it's already too late. But for the future, both for the Chinese and the rest of the world, we cannot consume at this rate and survive as a species.
13
What ever you do, save your childrens lives and get out of China. Working as a laborer in Arizona feilds will be better for your children, your liives and your guilt than the compromises you are making. It is only going to get worse. Leave them with the grandparents until you can find a place where their lungs can develope naturally. This is not to alarm you it is just the facts. Hard choices.
9
Anybody know what studies show that a surgical mask has value in protecting against pollution?
3
What we do know is that the masks worn in China do not protect against the very tiny toxic particles being spewed from coal plants without scrubbers. The masks are not authentic surgical masks. Even if they were, the coal plants are a problem, and the smog is a huge problem. China and India need pollution controls and enforced regulations. This will take years. The international community needs to keep up the pressure to improve the production driven by coal plants. Scrubbers would be a good start.
Ah, China! It seems there is always someone there ready to cheat and make people sick for a quick buck. Tainted milk, toxic toys, 30 year old meat and now fake masks? I would like to say that is just a coincidence or that because of its size those things are bound to be seen in such a large economy. But we know well that too many Chinese officials are too quick to look the other way to get a little envelop. As long as China doesn't reform those traditions that pervade their system from the top to the bottom, it will be very hard to see it as a trusted trade partner and a democracy rather that an unappealing hybrid dog eat dog capitalism with rigid communist hierarchy. Too bad for such an otherwise rich culture the world could take inspiration from!
19
Unfortunately, bribery has a long history in China; it has always existed in a country ruled by royal monarchs and later by State monarchs. The U.S. also has bribery; however, it also has a voting public and an active press. Chinese citizens are aware of bribery; they understand how it works. Mao's Great Leap Forward created the industrial power house China has become. Now she needs a great leap forward into clean government, honestly clean government. No Tongs.
1
My brother has worked in China for 20 years, helping US companies source their manufacturing. He tells me that there is nothing . . . absolutely NOTHING . . . that the Chinese will not cheat on for money. Fraudulent materials and manufacturing quality, adulterated food products, bribery and extortion at every turn.
Our only salvation from them "taking over the world" is that 95% of their manufacturing economy is stuck in the 1960s Soviet Union.
Our only salvation from them "taking over the world" is that 95% of their manufacturing economy is stuck in the 1960s Soviet Union.
22
All the more reason why country of origin labeling is critical. Given so many dangerous product issues, when I see "made in China" on food or personal care items - I put it back on the shelf.
8
The Bay Bridge rivets scandal is a case in point. Inferior steel rivets now being replaced with American made rivets. And, our steel workers are training Chinese how to build a bridge.
What makes you think that manufacturers of these worthless products won't lie on the labels about where they're made?
Despite the occasional crackdown, the Chinese government largely continues to turn a blind eye to the thousands of factories (providing thousands of jobs) producing many of the counterfeit goods flooding the global market. As well as the luxury handbag, watch, and apparel knockoffs which cost jobs in countries like France and Italy, the most dangerous counterfeit products range from adulterated foodstuffs, and defective auto parts, to vital drugs with no medicinal value. As the current scandal of the fake pollution masks illustrates, the Chinese people are themselves the biggest victims of these criminal activities. Until the Chinese government gets serious about protecting the health of its average citizen consumers, only the rich will be able to truly protect themselves, by buying outside of the domestic supply chain.
19
The rich in China also move out of the country. There is a large population of transplanted Chinese in Los Angeles. They buy property and rent property. Their children will grow up in the U.S. with clean air and good schools. It is too much to expect a population raised in a traditional culture, respect for authority etc., to rise up and produce another Mao revolution. Xi is producing jobs with a manipulated economy. International pressure from investors and diplomatic representatives might finally exert enough pressure to make a difference. That said, don't ever underestimate the Chinese mercantile history. They invest in schools and clinics in many countries; they also exploit natural resources in many countries as well. China is where the U.S. was during the Industrial Revolution. She wants a major place on the world stage. We are going to have to work with that through diplomacy and international pressure. What we do not need is to get involved with China's and Japan's WWII fight over the islands in the South China Sea. The world has changed since WWII; there are many players now.
Please note, that China appropriately called in this paper a "nation of Cheaters", was manufacturing with government knowledge counterfeit masks to sell to people in other nations that the authoritarian Chinese one party oligarchy hates and indoctrinates the Chinese people to be racially bigoted against. What poetic justice that the Chinese are now being poisoned by the same lethal trash that they contaminate the rest of the world with. What will be next? Since poisoned baby formula seems to indicate nor moral boundaries, will China soon develop some super lethal bubonic Ebola and send it in exports to the USA and Europe?
6
Would it have been OK if they had been exported?