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Millions Of Acres Of Chinese Farmland Too Polluted To Grow Food, Highlighting Growing Threat http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1388417417
More than 8 million acres of China's farmland is too polluted with heavy metals and other chemicals to use for growing food, a Cabinet official said Monday, highlighting a problem that is causing growing public concern.
The threat from pollution to China's food supply has been overshadowed by public alarm at smog and water contamination but is gaining attention following scandals over tainted rice and other crops. The government triggered complaints in February when it refused to release results of a nationwide survey of soil pollution, declaring them a state secret.
The figure given at a news conference by Wang Shiyuan, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, would be about 2 percent of China's 337 million acres of arable land.
Some scientists have given higher estimates of as much as 60 million acres, or one-fifth of the total, though it is unclear how much of that would be too badly contaminated for farming.
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[Read more stories about:
airborne pollutants, contamination, heavy metals, health impacts, food crisis]
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'Doc Michael says:
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Why don't we build factories on that otherwise useless farmland.
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