China Environmental Law

Heavy Metal Problem #1: “I’m living in a hell hole. Don’t wanna stay in this hell hole.”

Heavy Metal Problem #2: Mercury, lead, etc. in soil and sediments.

Today we address Problem #2, but it’s possible the two problems are related. One side effect of too much cadmium in the diet could be an irresistible urge to form a band with a name like “Rat” or “Poison” (did they ever play a double bill?).

China’s problem is that 20 million hectares of its soil are contaminated with mercury, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, thallium, beryllium, and/or copper.  Some of these metals are probably in your vitamins, but ingesting too much of any of them will cause problems. You would not want to regularly eat vegetables grown on a plot with high levels of many of these substances.

These elements are especially troublesome from an environmental perspective because, unlike organic pollutants, they are not soluble in water and do not decay (at least not quickly) or volatilize.  This naturally makes them remediation challenges.

It is not clear whether the China number includes contaminated sediments.  This is material because the beds of rivers and streams are where harmful metals can cause the most serious problems for humans. The little bugs that live in the sediments eat the heavy metals and become little mercury pills. Little fish eat these pills and are then eaten by bigger fish. Eventually, they all end up in the big fish in the bucket they bring to tableside in China to show you that your restaurant order will be served “fresh.” (Next time, ask that the entrée be run through a metal detector.)

Does anyone know what a “hectare” is?  It sounds like a troop division in Xerxes army, but it turns out it’s a land surface unit with a 100 hectares in a square kilometer. That means the area of heavy metal contaminated soil in China equals 200,000 km2.  This is the size of the entire country of Cambodia or Belarus, or if you prefer, twice the size of South Korea.

That is a big problem, and I suspect the numbers are underestimated. China is in the process of completing a nationwide soil pollution survey, and the results may be announced next year.  Can a Chinese band with an umlaut in its name be far behind?