China blighted by soil pollution, figures show

Chinese farmers are fighting a continuous battle against soil pollution, it has been suggested.

A report published in the Southern Metropolis Daily has indicated that ten per cent of agricultural land in the Asian country is blighted by contaminated water.

As a result, many soil samples have been found to contain excessive levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. This has placed whole villages in danger of poisoning.

"Heavy metal pollution incidents have occurred repeatedly in recent years," chief engineer at the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection Wan Bentai told the news provider.

"From January to August alone there were 11 cases - nine involving lead in the blood," he added.

Cadmium can induce cancer, while prolonged exposure to lead can cause a number of health problems such as kidney damage.

China also has water pollution issues to deal with and industry research organisation IBISWorld recently predicted that more international technology firms would target their environmental products at the Asian nation in the near future.

Posted by Joseph Hutton