Major projects to undergo health evaluations
Local health authorities have introduce a program to conduct health-related evaluations on major projects to gauge their effect on public health and safety.
The evaluations will follow the entire process of projects to check their influence, covering key factors that include the environment, lifestyle, health, deaths and cancer, chronic diseases and mental health, reproductive health, and children and women, said officials from Shanghai Health Promotion Office on Thursday.
“The evaluations will cover public projects closely related with public interests like urban construction, stations, Metro and airports,” said Fu Chen, vice director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention and head of the program.
A pilot project — the under-construction Minhang District section of Metro Line 15 — has been evaluated to study the positive and negative effects on the health of nearby residents.
Experts said the new line could bring more positive effects than negative. However, they also found negative impacts from noise, vibration and air pollution during construction and offered suggestions which led to changes to prevent air pollution in the future and ensure good air quality on the platform and trains on the new line.