Initial results of 8-year soil pollution study not accurate enough, experts say
First findings of 8-year government soil analysis may not give accurate picture, experts warn
Experts have called for more detailed analysis of the extent of soil pollution on the mainland to gauge its seriousness, after the government released its first findings from an eight-year study.
The first nationwide survey to address soil pollution, conducted between April 2005 and last December, found the state of farmland soil pollution "worrying" and "hard to be optimistic about", the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Land and Resources said on Thursday.
Of all the land surveyed, 16.1 per cent was polluted, the study found. For farmland, the pollution figure was 19.4 per cent. The authorities had previously kept under wraps the data collected in the survey, saying the information was a state secret.
An Environmental Protection Ministry spokesman said officials could not determine the exact amount of land polluted because they surveyed only one spot in every 6,400 hectares of farmland, Xinhua reported.
Chen Shibao , a member of the Agriculture Ministry's team of experts for treatment of heavy metal in soil, said the real situation could be worse. The figures released on Thursday were in line with researchers' previous estimates, he said, but this was only a "conservative finding".
