简体中文
Huang Zhijie describes himself as an "independent media person." In a series of articles titled “Formaldehyde 900 Stories” on his Weibo microblogging account, he calls attention to an issue that has recently been a cause for concern among the hundreds of millions of people in China who live in rented accommodations.
Last year, Huang was approached by the wife of an Alibaba employee surnamed Wang. Her husband had felt unwell after living in a rented apartment for six months and eventually went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with leukemia. He passed away in July 2018. She told Huang that before joining Alibaba, her husband had undergone a physical examination and had been declared very healthy. A subsequent examination of the apartment where he'd been living had revealed formaldehyde levels significantly above the permitted standard.
Huang published an article about Wang's case, which was read millions of times on the first day. He had become concerned about the formaldehyde issue, having heard numerous stories about tenants who had fallen ill, complaining about irritation in their eyes, lungs or throat after moving into rented accommodation.
In most of the cases, the apartment was rented from a company called Ziroom. Huang became convinced that a common factor in all the cases was formaldehyde, a toxic compound contained in many resins and coatings used in interior decoration. He concluded that, in the rush to achieve a rapid turnover, Ziroom was not allowing sufficient time for formaldehyde to disperse after renovation work.
Apart from drawing attention to the formaldehyde issue, Huang has also campaigned to win support for the affected tenants, who he says "are in a weak position when they confront a big company like Ziroom."
He also wrote to the Ministry of Housing and Construction, asking it to intervene in the issue. "The Ministry later responded, saying that new standards were being developed," Huang said, and some representatives talked about the issue during this year’s "two sessions."
(CGTN)
