From People’s Daily:
Reports that more than 10 percent of China’s farmland has been polluted has prompted the first soil survey in the country to ensure food safety.
Sources with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said the inspection, which started in July last year, focuses on soil quality in some main grain-producing and industrial areas.By the end of last year, experts had collected and analyzed samples, and the data is being processed, said a senior SEPA official who did not want to be named.
Even though China has collected extensive data on air and water pollution, there has not been any nationwide survey on soil pollution, so there is no inventory of pollutant types or their distribution and volume in soil. [Full Text]