Chinese children suffering more birth defects

The rise, which is attributed to growing environmental pollution, has seen birth defects increase from 104.9 per 10,000 births to 145.5 per 10,000 in 2006.

Shanxi province - home to some of China's heaviest industries and a centre for coal production - recorded the highest level of defects, further indicating that coal-fired power plants are leading to a dramatic decline in the population's health.

The World Bank estimates that some 460,000 Chinese die every year from air and water pollution.

This article first appeared in the Ecologist October 2007