White foam on rainwater 'is normal'
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China Daily, August 19, 2015
|
|
|
A large amount of white foam appeared as the first rain fell on Aug. 18 after the blasts in Tianjin's port area. [Photo/Weibo.com] |
Thunderstorms on Tuesday morning made the Tianjin recovery operation more difficult, with an increased risk of rainwater becoming polluted. However, the air and water quality were still within what is considered a safe range, monitoring officials said.
The first rainfall after the massive blasts on Aug 12 has prompted fears that remaining hazardous chemicals at the site may pollute the water and then contaminate surrounding areas, which would be a danger to public health.
Since the rainfall, several photos of rainwater covered with white foam have been posted online, with people questioning whether it was polluted or not.
Wen Jinlong, a bus driver commuting from the blast zone to downtown, noticed the white foam, "which is quite different from the situation in light rain".
"I do not feel sick, but I'm still worried about the foam," said the local resident, who is in his 40s.
Experts said people would choke after inhaling a minor amount of oxygen contaminated by sodium cyanide gas, according to a report carried by Caijing.com.
"After the rainfall, the 17(water quality) monitoring stations had not detected any abnormal changes," Deng Xiaowen, director of the Tianjin environment monitoring station, said on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, officials said the 17 stations within 3 km of the main explosion had detected cyanide since Sunday.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)