Qi Xu is a journalist for China Environmental Times. The following article is translated by ChinaDialogue:
Soil contamination has grown unnoticed across China’s landscape. Now, reports Qi Xu, a major geochemical survey is under way, designed to diagnose the extent and severity of the problem.
Food safety is a basic need for any population, yet we hear warnings of hidden dangers on the dining-room table – of unsafe rice and poisoned vegetables. With the launch of the China Soil Survey, pollution of our soil is now receiving the kind of attention once accorded to air and water, solid waste and noise.
Soil pollution has been called the “invisible pollution.” While other forms of pollution have obvious warning signs – visible contamination of a river, for example, or an airborne stench – soil pollution is easier to miss. And so this grave threat has been growing unnoticed in our fields.
……”The severity of the pollution is not understood by either the public or business, and the situation is worsening.” [Full Text]
