AN apple a day will not be keeping the doctor at bay in the infamously polluted coal town of Huailai County in Zhangjiakou, which is sometimes known as “Coal City” in Hebei Province.

    Villagers say apples that grow there have genetically adopted a permanent blackish tint, instead of their former reddish hue, due to years of exposure to the city’s dirty, soot-filled air, according to an investigative report by CCTV.

    Such is life in the second-most-polluted city in the country’s most polluted province. The World Bank estimates China is home to 16 of the world’s most polluted metropoles.

    According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, seven of the nation’s 10 most polluted cities are located in Hebei Province — a major center of China’s steel and coal industries.

    Intensive coal mining coupled with poor regulation and safety standards means Zhangjiakou is perpetually shrouded in thick, black haze. Everything from trees to crops to homes is chronically covered in layers of coal dust.

    Large uncovered mounds of refined coal in quarries are often left sitting in the open. Industrial excavators can be seen trudging through coal dunes throughout the day, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and into neighboring residential areas, CCTV reported.

    For almost 15 years, since the coal industry first moved in, Zhangjiakou’s villagers have been complaining about the industry’s effects on public health and the environment.

    But the industry is crucial to the city’s economy and to maintaining the country’s insatiable appetite for energy, and complaints often go unheeded.

    (SD-Agencies)