[brbethke]

Can you point us to any authoritative citations on this, if it's not too much trouble...

A quick search turned up the following:

• A UN Development Programme paper on industrial air pollution in China; a bit dry reading but loaded with fascinating facts
• A BBC article, China Battles Coal Fires
• Another BBC article, Pollution Hits Rural Poor Hardest, which reports on a UN World Health Organization study that found some surprising results

Like I said, this is just for starters. Happy reading.

[VOA]

Thanks for the resources; y'all have been more than kind...