在中國，灰霾籠罩下的童年
黃安偉 報道 2013年04月23日
北京——這個男孩的慢性咳嗽和鼻塞是去年他3歲時開始的。他的癥狀在今年冬天惡化了，當時遍布中國北方的霧霾飆升到了創紀錄的水平。現在他每晚必須用一台機器的管子，用鹽水清洗鼻竇。
孩子的母親張子萱（音譯）說，她基本上不讓他出門，而必須出門時，她通常會給他戴上口罩。她曾在英國留學，她說那裡和中國比起來，可謂"天壤之別"。
在北京和其他城市，致命污染物的水平，高達指導值極限的40倍，這已經嚇壞了父母，使他們採取措施，極大地改變了孩子們在城市中生活的常態。父母把他們的兒子和女兒關在家中，即便這意味着令他們疏遠朋友。學校取消了戶外活動和郊遊。收入水平較高的父母，則基於空氣過濾系統來選擇學校，而一些國際學校在運動場上建起了體積巨大、外觀前衛的穹頂來確保呼吸健康。
"我希望，我們將來能搬到外國，"律師張子萱在談到她患病的兒子吳曉田（音譯）時說，"否則我們會嗆死的。"此時吳曉田正在他們公寓里的一張墊子上玩耍，旁邊就是一台新的空氣凈化器。
她並非唯一想要離開的人。一些中產和上層階級的中國父母，以及外籍人士，已經開始離開中國了，企業高管稱，這一趨勢可能導致人才和經驗的大量流失。外國父母也以污染為理由，拒絕了高級職位，或與僱主談判，要求對其艱苦現狀進行補償。
目前並沒有關於逃離北京的統計數據，而且許多人仍舊渴望來北京工作。但是離開北京的議論，已經在這個首都，以及中國的微博和育兒論壇上變得愈加緊迫。中國人還在討論去西藏、海南和福建等所謂的"好空氣目的地"度假。
北京和睦家醫院(Beijing United Family Hospital)的家庭健康醫生聖西睿智(Richard Saint Cyr)新近當上了父親。他說，"我在這裡待了六年，從未看到他們緊張到像現在這種程度。即便是我自己，我也從未像現在這麼焦慮過。情況一直極其糟糕。"這家醫院的患者中國人和外國人各佔一半。
他補充說，"特別是許多母親，已經為自己搬到北京生活而後悔。我想許多母親都受夠了把孩子關在屋裡了。"
很少有哪種事態的發展，能夠像意識到領導人無法遏制孩子面臨的威脅，無法保護孩子的健康和安全那樣，快速地侵蝕公眾對共產黨的信任。2008年，超過5000名兒童因為學校在地震中垮塌而遇難，這在全國範圍內引起憤怒；同年，一場毒奶粉醜聞導致了六名嬰兒死亡，此外還造成數十萬名兒童患病。官員們卻極力壓制憤怒的父母，有時通過武力恫嚇，有時用金錢收買。
但對於空氣污染的憤怒則傳播得廣泛得多，而且其勢頭才剛剛開始增大。
張子萱的父親張肖川（音譯）說，"我不信任北京政府的污染檢測數據。"他是一名退休的報社管理人員。
對於兒童和胎兒的長期損害的擔憂，得到了科學研究的證實。《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》(New England Journal of Medicine)發表的一項研究顯示，暴露於高水平空氣污染下的兒童，會遭受永久性的肺部損傷。這項研究是在20世紀90年代的洛杉磯進行的，當時那裡的污染水平比現在中國的許多城市要低得多。
上個月，加利福尼亞的研究人員發表的一項研究表明，兒童患自閉症，與孕婦暴露在交通造成的空氣污染中有關。在紐約完成的一次研究中，哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)的研究人員發現，產前接觸空氣污染物，可能導致兒童患上焦慮、抑鬱和注意力集中方面的問題。參與該研究的部分研究人員，較早前在中國重慶開展的一次研究發現，孕婦產前暴露於一座煤電廠的高水平空氣污染物後，所生產出的兒童頭圍較小，身體生長較為緩慢，且在2歲時進行的認知發育測驗中表現不佳。該工廠的關閉使得之後出生的兒童擁有的困難較少。
分析表明，如果中國不改變經濟發展政策並強化環境監管，將來情況也不會有好轉。德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)在2月份發佈的一份報告稱，當前的煤炭使用和汽車尾氣排放趨勢意味着，到2025年，空氣污染預計還會惡化70%。
中國北方的一些兒童醫院報告，今冬就診的呼吸道疾病患者人數很多，那段時間空氣污染水平也急速加劇。官方通訊社新華社報道，在今年1月空氣狀況不佳的一周時間裡，北京兒童醫院每天收治的急診患者高達9000人，其中有半數是因為呼吸道問題。
家長則爭相購買空氣凈化器。瑞士企業IQAir製造的空氣凈化器，在這裡的售價高達3000美元，擺放在明亮的展示廳里。該公司中國區CEO邁克·墨菲(Mike Murphy)透露，在2013年頭三個月里，銷量是去年同期的三倍。
口罩已經成了城市着裝標準中的一部分。張子萱在餐廳的桌子上擺出了五六個口罩，還拿出了一個適合吳曉田的，款式簡單、畫著泰迪熊的口罩。學校也在採取緊急措施，吳曉田就讀的私立幼兒園過去每周都會帶孩子們參加校外活動，但今年這些活動大部分都取消了。
在著名的北京四中，污染指數高的時候，就會取消室外的體育課。這所學校長期以來一直在培養中國的領導人和他們的孩子們。
已經被耶魯大學(Yale University)錄取的高三學生董一夫說，"有藍天、空氣似乎很乾凈的日子非常珍貴，我常常會出去鍛煉。"
為了讓孩子們能活動起來，精英學校紛紛投資建設基礎設施，其中就包括北京德威英國國際學校(Dulwich College Beijing)和北京順義國際學校(International School of Beijing)。後者在今年1月建成了兩個由合成纖維織物製作的白色運動穹頂，蓋住了運動場和網球場。
學生活動主任傑夫·約翰遜(Jeff Johanson)表示，這兩座穹頂和輔助建築的建設始於一年前，目的是讓1900名學生在天氣惡劣和污染嚴重時都有鍛煉的場所。工程耗資570萬美元（約合3520萬元人民幣），其中還包括醫院級別的空氣過濾系統。
老師們會查看美國大使館(United States Embassy)每小時更新的空氣質量數據，來判斷孩子們應該在戶外，還是在穹頂內部玩耍。約翰遜說，"小學生們再也不會總想着課間休息了。"
一名美國母親，塔拉·達菲(Tara Duffy)表示，她為自己的女兒選擇了一所早教學校，部分考慮因素是，那裡的教室裝有空氣過濾器。這所學校名叫3e國際學校(3e International School)，學校還邀請醫生來討論污染問題，並在煙霧水平升高時，禁止孩子們在戶外玩耍。達菲說，"在過去六個月里，亮警報的日子多了很多，於是他們就讓孩子們待在室內。"達菲是一名撰稿人，也曾是NGO的顧問。
達菲還說，她會檢查每天的空氣質量指數，以決定是否要帶女兒去戶外野餐或戶外的活動空間。
現在，在中國居住九年之後，達菲決定要離開中國，她指出的主要理由有污染和交通問題。
駐北京的外國人，甚至在中國以外的外國人當中，很多都在進行這樣的考慮，
一對有一名幼子的美國夫婦，在考慮一家基金會駐北京的高級職位時，就討論了污染問題。污染也是他們最終拒絕這個職位的原因之一。安可顧問公司(APCO Worldwide)北京辦公室高級顧問麥健陸(James McGregor)表示，他聽說一位家有幼子的美國外交官，拒絕了調任北京的機會。儘管美國國務院(State Department)會對駐北京人員發放相當於工資的15%的獎金，這筆獎金的部分存在原因就是污染。其他中國城市的艱苦津貼在20%至30%不等，這些城市也飽受惡劣空氣的困擾，但上海除外，上海的艱苦津貼為10%。
"我在北京生活了23年，我的孩子們也是在這裡長大的，但如果我現在有年幼的孩子，就會離開這裡，"麥健陸說，"很多人都開始制定撤離計劃了。"
Pollution Is Radically Changing Childhood in China's Cities
April 23, 2013
BEIJING — The boy's chronic cough and stuffy nose began last year at the age of 3. His symptoms worsened this winter, when smog across northern China surged to record levels. Now he needs his sinuses cleared every night with saltwater piped through a machine's tubes.
The boy's mother, Zhang Zixuan, said she almost never lets him go outside, and when she does she usually makes him wear a face mask. The difference between Britain, where she once studied, and China is "heaven and hell," she said.
Adam Dean for The New York Times
Students at the International School of Beijing playing in one of two domes with air-filtration systems for when smog is severe.
Levels of deadly pollutants up to 40 times therecommended exposure limit in Beijing and other cities have struck fear into parents and led them to take steps that are radically altering the nature of urban life for their children. Parents are confining sons and daughters to their homes, even if that means keeping them away from friends. Schools are canceling outdoor activities and field trips. Parents with means are choosing schools based on air-filtration systems, and some international schools have built gigantic, futuristic-looking domes over sports fields to ensure healthy breathing.
"I hope in the future we'll move to a foreign country," Ms. Zhang, a lawyer, said as her ailing son, Wu Xiaotian, played on a mat in their apartment, near a new air purifier. "Otherwise we'll choke to death."
She is not alone in looking to leave. Some middle- and upper-class Chinese parents and expatriates have already begun leaving China, a trend that executives say could result in a huge loss of talent and experience. Foreign parents are also turning down prestigious jobs or negotiating for hardship pay from their employers, citing the pollution.
There are no statistics for the flight, and many people are still eager to come work in Beijing, but talk of leaving is gaining urgency around the capital and on Chinese microblogs and parenting forums. Chinese are also discussing holidays to what they call the "clean-air destinations" of Tibet, Hainan and Fujian.
"I've been here for six years and I've never seen anxiety levels the way they are now," said Dr. Richard Saint Cyr, a new father and a family health doctor at Beijing United Family Hospital, whose patients are half Chinese and half foreigners. "Even for me, I've never been as anxious as I am now. It has been extraordinarily bad."
He added: "Many mothers, especially, have been second-guessing their living in Beijing. I think many mothers are fed up with keeping their children inside."
Few developments have eroded trust in the Communist Party as quickly as the realization that the leaders have failed to rein in threats to children's health and safety. There was national outrage in 2008 when more than 5,000 children were killed when their schools collapsed in an earthquake, and hundreds of thousands were sickened and six babies died in a tainted milk formula scandal the same year. Officials tried to suppress angry parents, sometimes by force or with payoffs.
But the fury over air pollution is much more widespread and is just beginning to gain momentum.
"I don't trust the pollution measurements of the Beijing government," said Ms. Zhang's father, Zhang Xiaochun, a retired newspaper administrator.
Scientific studies justify fears of long-term damage to children and fetuses. A studypublished by The New England Journal of Medicine showed that children exposed to high levels of air pollution can suffer permanent lung damage. The research was done in the 1990s in Los Angeles, where levels of pollution were much lower than in Chinese cities today.
A study by California researchers published last month suggested a link between autism in children and the exposure of pregnant women to traffic-related air pollution. Columbia University researchers, in a study done in New York, found that prenatal exposure to air pollutants could result in children with anxiety, depression and attention-span problems. Some of the same researchers found in an earlier study that children in Chongqing, China, who had prenatal exposure to high levels of air pollutants from a coal-fired plant were born with smaller head circumferences, showed slower growth and performed less well on cognitive development tests at age 2. The shutdown of the plant resulted in children born with less difficulties.
Analyses show little relief ahead if China does not change growth policies and strengthen environmental regulation. A Deutsche Bank report released in February said the current trends of coal use and automobile emissions meant air pollution was expected to worsen by an additional 70 percent by 2025.
Some children's hospitals in northern China reported a great number of patients with respiratory illnesses this winter, when the air pollution soared. During one bad week in January, Beijing Children's Hospital admitted up to 9,000 patients a day for emergency visits, half of them for respiratory problems, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency.
Parents have scrambled to buy air purifiers. IQAir, a Swiss company, makes purifiers that cost up to $3,000 here and are displayed in shiny showrooms. Mike Murphy, the chief executive of the company's China division, said sales had tripled in the first three months of 2013 over the same period last year.
Face masks are now part of the urban dress code. Ms. Zhang laid out half a dozen masks on her dining room table and held up a simple one with a picture of a teddy bear that fits Xiaotian. Schools are adopting emergency measures. Xiaotian's private kindergarten used to take the children on a field trip once a week, but it has canceled most of those this year.
At the prestigious Beijing No. 4 High School, which has long trained Chinese leaders and their children, outdoor physical education classes are now canceled when the pollution index is high.
"The days with blue sky and seemingly clean air are treasured, and I usually go out and do exercise," said Dong Yifu, a senior there who was just accepted to Yale University.
Elite schools are investing in infrastructure to keep children active. Among them are Dulwich College Beijing and the International School of Beijing, which in January completed two large white sports domes of synthetic fabric that cover athletic fields and tennis courts.
The erecting of the domes and an accompanying building began a year ago, to give the 1,900 students a place to exercise in both bad weather and high pollution, said Jeff Johanson, director of student activities. The project cost $5.7 million and includes hospital-grade air-filtration systems.
Teachers check the hourly air ratings from the United States Embassy to determine whether children should play outside or beneath the domes. "The elementary schoolchildren don't miss recess anymore," Mr. Johanson said.
One American mother, Tara Duffy, said she had chosen a prekindergarten school for her daughter based in part that the school had air filters in the classrooms. The school, called the 3e International School, also brings in doctors to talk about pollution and bars the children from playing outdoors during increases in smog levels. "In the past six months, there have been a lot more 'red flag' days, and they keep the kids inside," said Ms. Duffy, a writer and former NGO consultant.
Ms. Duffy said she also checked the daily air quality index to decide whether to take her daughter to an outdoor picnic or an indoor play space.
Now, after nine years here, Ms. Duffy is leaving China, and she cites the pollution and traffic as major factors.
That calculus is playing out with expatriates across Beijing and even with foreigners outside China.
One American couple with a young child discussed the pollution when considering a prestigious foundation job in Beijing, and it was among the reasons they ultimately turned down the offer. James McGregor, a senior counselor in the Beijing office of APCO Worldwide, a consulting company, said he had heard of an American diplomat with young children who had turned down a posting here. That was despite the fact that the State Department provides a 15 percent salary bonus for Beijing that exists partly because of the pollution. The hardship bonus for other Chinese cities, which also suffer from awful air, ranges from 20 percent to 30 percent, except for Shanghai, where it is 10 percent.
"I've lived in Beijing 23 years, and my children were brought up here, but if I had young children I'd have to leave," Mr. McGregor said. "A lot of people have started exit plans."
No comments:
Post a Comment