室内空气污染危害身体健康

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, new buildings in China total about 2 billion square meters each year.

据住房和城乡建设部统计，中国每年新建筑面积总计20亿平方米。

As part of the urbanization process, this massive construction of buildings has provided more and more common Chinese with new homes.

作为城市化进程的一部分，这个庞大的建筑施工为为越来越多普通老百姓提供了新的家园。

With their newly accumulated wealth, the country's residents cheerfully decorate about 90 million new homes each year.

他们利用新积累的财富每年装修9千万新房。

But Song Guangsheng, Vice Chairman of China's National Interior Decoration Association, says the decoration process causes indoor air pollution.

但是，中国国家室内装饰协会副主席宋广生说，这个装修过程会造成室内空气污染。

"Artificial boards and paint are the most commonly used decorating materials by Chinese. You know, artificial boards are a source of the pollutant formaldehyde. As for paint and glue, they emit volatile organic compounds and benzene."

“人造板材和油漆是人们最常用的装修材料。你知道，人造板材是污染物甲醛的来源之一。至于油漆和胶水，它们会释放出挥发性的有机化合物以及苯。”

Song Guangsheng, who is also director of the National Indoor Environment Test Center, says exposure to such substances can cause health problems, like respiratory diseases, mental impairment and cancer.

同时兼任国家室内环境检测中心主任的他说，接触这些物质可能会导致健康问题，如呼吸系统疾病，精神障碍和癌症。

When asked about the seriousness of the problem on the national level, he says no authoritative figures are available regarding how many people have been sickened or killed.

当问及此问题上升到国家层面的严重性时，他说还没有官方的数字说明有多少人因此生病或死亡。

But Song cites research by the World Bank that shows more than 100,000 Chinese die from diseases related to indoor pollution each year.

但他援引世界银行的研究，每年有10万中国人死于室内污染引发的疾病。

As the problem has caused tragedy for many individual Chinese, he stresses that residents should be armed with effective measures to deal with indoor air pollution.

由于这一问题已引发了许多个人悲剧，他强调，居民应该采取有效措施应对室内空气污染。

"Letting fresh air in is one of the best ways to cope with indoor air pollution. For newly-decorated houses, residents should let them ventilate for several months before moving in. Moreover, families can make use of air purifiers to clean the indoor air."

“让新鲜空气进入是解决室内空气污染的最好方法之一。对于新装修的房屋，居民应该放置几个月，让室内通风，然后再入住。此外，也可以利用空气净化器来清洁室内空气。”

He also urges quality supervisors to strictly inspect production and delivery of decorating materials to ensure they meet relevant national environmental standards.

他还敦促质量监督人员对装修材料的生产和配送等环节严加检查，确保它们符合国家相关环保标准。

In recent years, serious diseases and deaths caused by indoor air pollution have been reported from time to time.

近年来，因室内空气污染造成人的严重疾病和死亡常有报道。

In 2006, a 4-year old girl in Fujian Province died of acute leukemia after living for ten months in her formaldehyde-polluted home.

2006年，福建省一个4岁女孩在含有甲醛的房间住了10月后死于急性白血病。

Last year, a woman in Hubei Province was diagnosed with chronic renal failure after working in a newly-decorated office for two years. Local environmental authorities blamed the disease on excessive amounts of formaldehyde and benzene in the office.

去年，湖北省一女子在新装修的办公室工作了两年后被诊断为慢性肾功能衰竭。当地环保部门将此病归咎于办公室内大量的甲醛和苯。