An environmental official said the State Council, China's cabinet, is reviewing plans to address soil quality, which has been recognized as a serious problem in recent years by the central government.At a forum on July 11, Li Ganjie, a vice minister of environmental protection, said that his ministry has submitted the council with a draft of a plan to clean agricultural areas contaminated by pollution to be implemented over the next six or seven years.In June, an official survey stated 8.2 percent of arable land in China has high levels of cadmium and lead. The ingestion of heavy metals through food has been known to have harmful effects on human health.Cadmium poisoning blocks the absorption of calcium in the body, and can lead to severe bone disease.Li urged lawmakers to compose legislation to address soil contamination because the problem has become alarming.In May of last year, food safety officials in the southern city of Guangzhou found excessive levels of cadmium in almost half of the rice and rice products tested from restaurants.In the next few years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection is scheduled to conduct more surveys of soil pollution to bolster efforts in policy formation, said Li.For Caixin Online, this is Diana Bates.
