Heavy metals pollution battle targets batteries
By Zhang Xuanchen |
April 2, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HEAVY metals pollute 12 million tons of grain a year in China - a loss which could have fed 40 million people.
The contamination leads to economic losses totaling 20 billion yuan (US$3.05 billion), according to China's Ministry of Land and Resources.
The scenario has led to the Ministry of Environmental Protection putting the disposal of batteries, a major source of heavy metals pollution, on top of its agenda this year, reported Nanfang Daily
Toxic metal readings in nearly 40 percent of farmland in the Pearl River Delta exceed legal limits, reported the state environment watchdog.
Chen Tongbin, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimated that 10 percent of the country's farmland was polluted.
It takes at least three years for farmland to recover and some chemicals remain for decades, said Li Zhian, an agricultural expert with the CAS.
Nine Chinese ministries this week launched a year-long joint campaign to tackle heavy metals pollution. Each province is required to release a list of lead-acid battery makers, assemblers and recyclers by the end of July, said Zhang Lijun, vice minister of environmental protection. Any plant violating regulations will be closed down.
The ministry aims that by 2015 heavy metal emissions in key areas will be reduced 15 percent on 2007 levels, as part of China's environment protection plan for the next five-year period.
China makes half of the world's batteries, yet the industry's environmental record is poor. Most small and middle-sized manufacturers failed to follow safety controls, nor did they properly treat waste, revealed an inspection of 388 plants in 11 provinces last month. In 2009, Chinese battery makers released 12 million tons of heavy metal tainted liquid and 22 million tons of solid waste.
Poisoning cases have led to "cancer villages," whose residents are more likely to have fatal diseases. Some 139 villagers in east China's Zhejiang Province were found to have been poisoned by lead from a battery plant, reported Xinhua news agency last month.
The contamination leads to economic losses totaling 20 billion yuan (US$3.05 billion), according to China's Ministry of Land and Resources.
The scenario has led to the Ministry of Environmental Protection putting the disposal of batteries, a major source of heavy metals pollution, on top of its agenda this year, reported Nanfang Daily
Toxic metal readings in nearly 40 percent of farmland in the Pearl River Delta exceed legal limits, reported the state environment watchdog.
Chen Tongbin, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimated that 10 percent of the country's farmland was polluted.
It takes at least three years for farmland to recover and some chemicals remain for decades, said Li Zhian, an agricultural expert with the CAS.
Nine Chinese ministries this week launched a year-long joint campaign to tackle heavy metals pollution. Each province is required to release a list of lead-acid battery makers, assemblers and recyclers by the end of July, said Zhang Lijun, vice minister of environmental protection. Any plant violating regulations will be closed down.
The ministry aims that by 2015 heavy metal emissions in key areas will be reduced 15 percent on 2007 levels, as part of China's environment protection plan for the next five-year period.
China makes half of the world's batteries, yet the industry's environmental record is poor. Most small and middle-sized manufacturers failed to follow safety controls, nor did they properly treat waste, revealed an inspection of 388 plants in 11 provinces last month. In 2009, Chinese battery makers released 12 million tons of heavy metal tainted liquid and 22 million tons of solid waste.
Poisoning cases have led to "cancer villages," whose residents are more likely to have fatal diseases. Some 139 villagers in east China's Zhejiang Province were found to have been poisoned by lead from a battery plant, reported Xinhua news agency last month.
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