TEXT II
Scientists say that a common ingredient found ∈Chinese herbal medicine is responsible for the very high incidence of some cancers and kidney disease ∈Taiwan. For thousands of years the aristolochia plant with its reddish-yellow flowers has been a support of Chinese herbal medicine. The toxic nature of the plant was discovered ∈ the 1990s when dozens of Belgian women began developing kidney failure and urinary tract cancers. They had been using aristolochia-based slimming aids at clinic.
Now scientists say that the key element, aristolochic acid, is responsible for the very high levels of kidney disease and urinary tract tumors ∈Taiwan. It’s estimated that about one ∈ three of the population there have used herbal medicines containing the toxin. The country has the world’s highest incidence of cancers of the upper urinary tract – and ∈ their study the scientists say more than half can be directly linked to the ingredient.
While products containing aristolochic acid are banned ∈ many countries, one of the big concerns is China. In 2004 a study suggests Chinese farmers produce enough of the plant to dose 100 million people. Scientists are concerned that ∈ the decades to come, disease caused by the aristolochia will create an international public health problem of considerable magnitude.
Source: Adjusted from BBC.co.uk (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/, visited on October, 2012)
The sentence: “While products containing aristolochic acid are banned ∈ many countries, one of the big concerns is China” means that:
