中国大気汚染 健康被害防止の対策が急務だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun October 24, 2013
China’s worsening air pollution crisis calls for health-hazard prevention
中国大気汚染　健康被害防止の対策が急務だ（10月23日付・読売社説）

Air pollution in China is becoming more and more serious, with haze so thick in some areas that even nearby buildings cannot be seen clearly.
　間近なビルもかすんで見えない。中国の大気汚染が再び、深刻の度を増している。

It is feared that the atmospheric contamination in the country could further spread when the winter sets in, with a massive amount of coal to be burned for heating. An immediate task facing the Chinese government is to take swift measures to fight the worsening pollution.
　暖房用石炭を大量に燃やす冬季になれば、汚染拡大が懸念される。中国政府には迅速な対策が求められる。

On Monday, the concentration of PM2.5 topped the observable upper limit of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. The airborne particles, 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, are considered most harmful to health.
　黒竜江省ハルビンでは２１日、直径２・５マイクロ・メートル以下の微小粒子状物質（ＰＭ２・５）の濃度が、１立方メートルあたり１０００マイクロ・グラムの観測上限を超えた。

The figure far exceeds Japan’s environmental safety standard for PM2.5, which is set at an average of 35 micrograms per day.
　日本の環境基準である１日平均３５マイクロ・グラムをはるかに上回る。

On Monday, all primary and middle schools were closed in Harbin, and bus service was suspended on some routes.
　市内の全小中学校は休校になった。路線バスも一部運休した。

This dire situation is not limited to Harbin. In October, the PM2.5 pollution is extending to other areas, mostly in northern China. For instance, Beijing has been blanketed with thick smog. On many days, the Chinese capital has seen its PM2.5 pollution reach the “serious” level—the worst reading on the six-grade scale of air pollution set by the authorities.
　こうした状況は、ハルビンにとどまらない。１０月に入り、北部を中心にＰＭ２・５の汚染が広がっている。北京でも、濃いスモッグに覆われ、当局が定める６段階の汚染指標で最悪の「深刻な汚染」に該当する日が続く。

There are concerns about health hazards posed by the air contamination. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, has certified that PM2.5 can cause cancer, saying that its cancer-causing risk is comparable to those of asbestos and smoking.
　懸念されるのは、住民の健康被害だ。世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）の専門組織である国際がん研究機関（ＩＡＲＣ）は、ＰＭ２・５について、「発がん性がある」と認定した。アスベストや喫煙と同じリスクがあるという。

PM2.5 particles can find their way deep into the lungs and can cause asthma and bronchitis. The IARC had every reason to assert that the international community must take quick steps to address the problem. There also are concerns about the health of Japanese residents in China.
　肺の奥まで入り込むＰＭ２・５は、ぜんそくや気管支炎を引き起こす。ＩＡＲＣが早急な対策を求めたのは当然だ。
　中国で生活している邦人の健康状態も気がかりである。

Reduce pollution sources

What must be done to fight the air pollution is, first of all, to install desulfurization equipment at coal-fired power stations and factories in China, a task necessary for making the smoke from these facilities relatively cleaner. Coal-fired thermal power accounts for about 80 percent of that country’s electricity supply. It is essential to ensure that the Chinese become deeply aware of the need to spend money for environmental protection, instead of only seeking short-term profits.
　対策として、まず必要なのは、電力供給の約８割を占める石炭火力発電所や工場に脱硫装置を設置し、排煙を浄化することだ。目先の利益だけを追求するのでなく、環境対策にコストをかける意識を根付かせることが肝要だ。

Another pressing task is to reduce the air contamination caused by exhaust gases from more than 200 million cars and motorcycles on Chinese streets. Gasoline used in China contains a good deal of sulfur, a source of high-concentration pollutants. Given this, it is imperative to improve the quality of gasoline used in China.
　約２億台に上る自動車・バイクの排ガス対策も急務である。中国で使われているガソリンは、硫黄含有量が多く、高濃度の汚染物質を排出しているとされる。ガソリンの品質向上が欠かせない。

The key to success—or failure—is whether the government of President Xi Jinping will be able to reform his country’s petroleum industry, which has long been able to gain exorbitant profits by selling low-quality products, an achievement made possible through its strong political clout.
　強い政治力を背景に低品質製品で巨利を得てきた石油業界に対し、習近平政権がどこまでメスを入れられるかがカギを握る。

Japan cannot dismiss China’s air pollution as someone else’s problem. PM2.5 and other pollutants have been carried by the prevailing westerly winds to arrive in Japan, especially in the western part of the nation.
　中国の大気汚染は、日本にとって人ごとではない。ＰＭ２・５などが偏西風に乗って、西日本を中心に飛来している。

Environmental protection is an important task that Japan and China must carry out together, despite their feud over the Senkaku Islands.
　尖閣諸島を巡り、日中両国が対立する中にあっても、環境対策は、両国が協力して取り組むべき重要課題と言える。

The authorities in Beijing are scheduled to send a team of officials in charge of the problem to Tokyo by the end of the month. The Chinese government also has invited some Japanese experts to visit China. This apparently indicates a sense of urgency shared by both countries about the air pollution in China.
　北京市は月内に担当者を東京都に派遣する。日本の専門家も中国に招かれている。現状に対する中国の危機感を物語っている。

We believe Japan’s environmental know-how—the technological solutions to its own past air pollution problems—will do much to improve the situation in China.
　大気汚染を改善した日本のノウハウは中国にも役立つだろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 23, 2013)
（2013年10月23日01時55分 読売新聞）