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China's 'cancer villages' reveal dark side of economic boom
Zheng Gumei thought she was down with a cold until the doctor told her to wait outside the room so he could talk to her son alone.
"I knew then that I must have a serious illness," the 47-year-old farmer recalled, wiping away the tears and then staring into the distance. "I'm having treatment now. See, my hair has fallen out," she said, taking off her hat to show the side-effects of chemotherapy.
Like many other residents of Xinglong, a small rural community next to an industrial park in China's Yunnan province, she had little doubt about the source of her cancer. "The pollution in this village is bad, people get sick."
Such stories have become much more common in China in recent years as breakneck economic growth increasingly takes its toll on the nation's health.
Since last year, there has been an explosion of lead poisoning cases close to smelting plants. Studies have shown that communities that recycle electronic waste are exposed to cadmium, mercury and brominated flame retardants. Elsewhere, there have been protests against chemical factories that are blamed for carcinogens that enter water supplies and the food chain.