VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGZ #0712/01 3430712
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080712Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0050
INFO RUEHGZ/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0015
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC 0013
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC 0009
RHMFIUU/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC 0002
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0015
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0015
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5// 0001

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000712 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND OES/PCI 
EPA FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR ECON CH
SUBJECT: South China's Soil in Desperate Need of a Clean Up 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. Not for release outside U.S. government channels. Not 
for internet publication. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Thirty years of "pollution first, treatment later" has led 
to a severe and growing soil contamination problem - perhaps more 
troubling health-wise than air and water pollution - in the Pearl 
River Delta (PRD).  Excessive concentrations of heavy metals, 
pesticides, fertilizers and other carcinogens have been detected in 
many soil samples and food products from the region, with some 
studies finding excessive heavy metal contamination in about 50% of 
vegetable fields in Guangdong.  Government control measures have so 
far been inadequate with more resources dedicated to air and water 
pollution.  Programs to move highly polluting industries to special 
industrial zones have not included sufficient investment in waste 
treatment facilities at the new zones.  As U.S. imports of Chinese 
agricultural products, especially seafood, grow, soil contamination 
in the PRD will be an increasing concern for U.S. consumers.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Director General of the Guangdong Department of Land 
and Resource has said publicly that the problem of soil 
contamination is very serious and the effect on products throughout 
the food chain, especially from heavy metal contamination, is a 
potential threat to human health.   In addition to its direct effect 
on agricultural products, soil contamination leads to the 
deterioration of soil quality, reducing the productivity of farmland 
and creating a vicious cycle where more contaminating pesticides and 
fertilizers are used.  Soil pollution - with heavy metals, 
pesticides, nitrate/nitrite and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons 
(PAHs) - is probably more harmful to the human health than air 
pollution with respect to total cumulative exposure and risk because 
food is the major exposure pathway for many of these harmful 
contaminants.  Exposure is often cumulative without any symptoms at 
the beginning.  High exposure to these chemicals over time has been 
linked to cancers, bone diseases and other health issues, including 
child development problems. 
 
Heavy Metals 
------------ 
 
¶3. (U) Many studies by local research institutes have shown that 
heavy metal soil contamination is very hard if not impossible to 
eliminate because the retention time is long, mobility in soil is 
slow and the contamination can't be degraded by microbes.  Mining 
waste, waste water discharge from smelters and other industrial 
waste are major contributors.  One survey in Guangdong of 179 
monitoring sites covering a total area of 84,300 hectares found that 
soil pollution in 58.1% of samples exceeded China's standards; the 
latter are often much less stringent than U.S. health experts would 
recommend.  Another investigation of five cities in Guangdong, 
accounting for 66,700 hectares of farm land, showed 80% of samples 
with heavy metal pollution. 
 
¶4. (U) Soil contamination leads directly to high levels of heavy 
metals in food grown in the PRD.  A Sun Yan-Sen University study of 
local produce showed that lead levels in 37.5% of leaf vegetables 
and 26.3% of root vegetables exceeded Chinese standards.  Cadmium 
levels exceeded the standards in 18.1% of leaf vegetables and 9.7 
percent of root vegetables.  One random inspection of vegetables in 
a Guangzhou market showed that about 30% exceeded the standard for 
lead concentration and 20% exceeded the standard for cadmium.  Heavy 
metal concentrations in vegetables and other farm produce, 
especially rice, in highly polluted areas such as the area around 
the Dabaoshan Mine in Guangdong could be more than one thousand 
times higher than concentrations reported in U.S. produce by the 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
 
¶5. (U) The Chinese Journal of Food Hygiene in 2007 described a large 
study involving 43,976 measurements of various foods and various 
pollutants from 2000 to 2005. According to the study, rice in 
Guangdong was highly contaminated by cadmium.  It found that 
consumption of just 0.4 kg of rice per day would result in exposure 
to cadmium at 84% of the acceptable daily intake established by the 
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization 
(FAO/WHO).  Approximately 68% of dried mushroom samples exceeded 
Chinese standards for lead content. 
 
Pesticides and Fertilizer 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Various chemical residues from pesticides and fertilizers 
in the vegetables and other farm produce are also high in the PRD 
due not only to direct application of excessive amounts but also 
from residual contamination in the region's soil.  According to a 
2003 report by the Guangdong Statistics Bureau, an average of 834 kg 
of chemical fertilizers were applied on each hectare of farmland 
each year, much higher than the international average of 36 
kg/hectare annually.  Wan Hongfu, a top expert on soil in PRD, told 
us excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have 
been used in PRD.  He said that about 70% of the fertilizers and 
70-90% of the pesticides end up polluting the environment and 
damaging the ecological system of the PRD.  Inappropriate 
application of pesticides and defective products make the problem 
worse. 
 
¶7. (U) Soil contamination studies have found the pesticides 
dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and beta-benzenehexachloride 
(trade name HCH) in nearly 100% of samples. Detection rates for 
other pesticides are also very high. In 2000, a market survey found 
that 67.1% of vegetable samples exceeded standards for one or more 
pesticides.  In addition, the survey showed that 32.2% and 43.4% of 
samples exceeded standards for two unnamed pesticides that Chinese 
regulations prohibit for use on vegetables.  A separate market 
survey by a government agency yielded less alarming results.  It 
showed that about 10% of vegetables exceeded standards for at least 
one of 22 pesticides, including methamidophos, dimecron and others. 
The percentage of leaf and root vegetable that exceeded standards 
was much higher.  In 1999, inspection of tea from Guangdong found 
that 30% of samples exceeded the standard just for DDT - with some 
exceeding the lead standard as well.  The problem could be much more 
serious than these studies indicate because there is no testing for 
many other pesticides, including some that are reportedly used 
illegally. 
 
¶8. (U) Nitrate and nitrite contamination in soil from fertilizer and 
sewage is also very serious in scale and degree.  A paper published 
in 2007 by Guangdong Ecological Environment and Soil Research 
Institute indicated that 62.2% of sampled vegetables, especially 
leaf vegetables, were highly polluted by nitrate and nitrite. 
Another study put the rate for all vegetables at 70%.  An inspection 
of Guangdong market produce found that 90% of all vegetables and 
100% of leaf vegetables exceeded the standard for nitrate and 
nitrite with an average concentration of 2517 mg/kg (432 mg/kg is 
the recommended FAO standard).  A separate investigation showed the 
concentration to be more than 1200 mg/kg in seven types of 
vegetables. 
 
Other Carcinogens 
----------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 
which are carcinogenic contaminants from fossil fuel use, in soil in 
the PRD is another problem.  Many PAH compounds are also mutagenic 
and cause birth defects.  The detection rate according to some 
studies is more than 90% in PRD soil samples.  In one investigation, 
the levels of  five probable human carcinogenic PAHs exceeded 
standards in vegetable, rice, banana and orchid field soil samples 
in the following amounts -- benzo[b]fluoranthene 88%, 
benzo[k]fluoranthene 68%, benz[a]anthracene 13%, benzo[a]pyrene 4%, 
indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene 3%. 
 
Control Measures Inadequate 
--------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Pollution in south China is severe, widespread and takes 
many forms.  The top goal of the Chinese government, especially at 
local levels, is to prevent a major environmental incident. 
Resources have been focused on drinking water and air pollution 
mitigation, such as reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions.  Soil 
contamination has been neglected for a long time. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Authorities in China are beginning to realize the 
seriousness of soil pollution and have started to take measures to 
improve the situation.  A national survey of soil contamination 
status is ongoing and a national database of soil contamination 
should be established by the end of this year.  The central 
government is working on the Soil Contamination Prevention Act, 
which is scheduled to be promulgated next year.  This is a first 
step in the right direction.  The key to protecting the soil is 
prevention, but it will be very hard to implement preventive 
measures since many call for small highly polluting factories to be 
closed or moved.  According to a senior official and expert on soil 
research, about one-third of factories in the PRD would have to be 
 
moved or closed to comply with the Act.  This could lead to social 
instability, the top concern of authorities at all the levels of 
Chinese government. 
 
¶12. (SBU) In Guangdong, the provincial government seeks to address 
pollution, including soil pollution, by transferring the polluting 
industries into industrial parks with improved monitoring and 
control.  However, limited resources and the lack of local 
compliance reduce the effectiveness of this strategy.  A total of 28 
provincial transfer industrial parks have been created in Guangdong 
and, to date, not one has an operational waste treatment facility. 
Waste treatment plants are being built in only three of the 28 
parks. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Experts in Guangdong have urged the government to enhance 
inspection of vegetables in markets and establish no-hazard fields 
for vegetables.  Lack of contamination data for foods and lack of 
openness regarding data that does exist make it difficult to know 
the real scope of the problem.  Local scientists agree that studies 
similar in design to U.S. EPA studies assessing the total exposure 
of the various pollutants from various sources such as food, water, 
air and other pathways are important for measuring the cumulative 
risk of exposure for residents of the PRD.  The percentage 
contributions from various pathways, pollutants, or industries could 
help direct resources to reduce the overall risk.  These types of 
studies would also clarify the links between exposure, risk and 
health effects for PRD residents. 
 
Impact on the United States 
--------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) South China's soil contamination problems are increasingly 
a U.S. concern.  U.S. imports of Chinese agricultural and seafood 
products have grown rapidly in recent years, and China is now the 
United States' third largest source for these goods.  U.S. imports 
of Chinese agricultural and seafood products increased roughly 
fourfold over the last ten years, from 433,000 metric tons (MT) 
worth approximately USD 1 billion in 1997 to 2.1 million MT and USD 
4.9 billion in 2007.  If these trends continue, the potential for 
Chinese soil contamination to threaten U.S. health will grow as 
well. 
 
GOLDBERG