Key pollutants see first drop in years

China's sulfur dioxide emissions and chemical oxygen demand – a measure of water pollution – have both fallen for the first time in several years, the State Environmental Protection Administration announced on Wednesday. Sulfur dioxide emissions dropped 1.81% in the first nine months of the year while chemical oxygen demand was 0.28% lower, AFP reported. The two measures had often been cited as evidence of how China was failing to curb air and water pollution. Beijing wants to see a 10% decline in both between 2006 and 2010, which equates to an average drop of 2% a year. However, in 2006 the two measures actually rose. SEPA said the reductions were a result of a campaign to install more desulfurizing facilities in coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, state media reported that a record 30.5 billion metric tons of industrial, farming and human waste was dumped into the Yangtze River last year.