Changhua farmland contaminated by electroplating plants, heavy metal levels in crops all within normal range
Electroplating plant in Changhua illegally discharged industrial wastewater. The Agriculture and Food Agency urgently conducted random testing of second-crop rice from 4 public grain warehouses and 2 private operators in Changhua City and Hemei Township, sending the samples to the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture for testing. The results came out earlier, and the heavy metal content of all 11 samples fell within national standards or background values. The rapeseed, sesame and asparagus that the Changhua County Government submitted for testing on its own also met the regulations.
Currently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has established "heavy metal limits for edible rice," with test items for cadmium, mercury and lead, and standards of 0.4 ppm (parts per million), 0.05 ppm and 0.2 ppm respectively. Other heavy metals such as arsenic, copper, nickel, zinc and chromium are compared against the farmland environmental background values monitored by the Environmental Protection Administration.
Huang Mei-hua, deputy director-general of the Agriculture and Food Agency, said that among the 11 rice samples tested this time, only two showed cadmium levels of 0.07 and 0.08 ppm, far below the standard value of 0.4 ppm. Cadmium naturally exists in nature, and consumers need not worry excessively; the sesame, rapeseed and asparagus that Changhua County submitted for testing on its own also all fell within the standard values or background values.
Huang Mei-hua said that the Agriculture and Food Agency regularly carries out heavy metal monitoring of crops. As long as the Environmental Protection Administration lists a site as a pollution control site, all edible crops grown on the land must be uprooted and destroyed, and the Environmental Protection Administration compensates for the losses; after remediation, the Agriculture and Food Agency will include it in high-risk areas for strengthened monitoring.
The Agriculture and Food Agency said that in recent years, together with environmental agencies and local governments, it has carried out monitoring of heavy metal content in crops in high pollution risk areas, mainly areas where electroplating plants or metal surface treatment plants are densely distributed, including Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City, Taichung City, Changhua County and Kaohsiung City. In the 102nd year of the Republic of China (2013), a total of 568 farmland crop samples were monitored, and 31 failed to meet standards; the crops were all immediately uprooted and destroyed, and none entered the market.
Environmental Protection Administration adds 17 new compound control standards
Yesterday the Environmental Protection Administration gave advance notice of amendments to the "Soil Pollution Monitoring Standards," revising the monitoring standard values for five heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and zinc. The original "farmland for edible crops" was adjusted to "agricultural land and drinking water source water quality protection areas," and 17 new compound control standards were added.
To prevent industrial wastewater from polluting nearby farmland, the draft also adds heavy metal monitoring standards for "industrial and industrial-intensive areas." The Environmental Protection Administration said that industrial and industrial-intensive areas refer to industrial zones, export processing zones, science parks and environmental science and technology parks as stipulated in Article 6, Paragraph 3, Subparagraphs 1 to 4 of the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act; those with opinions on the draft may inquire with the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Fund Management Board at (02)2383-2389 ext. 8302, or by email at [email protected] within two weeks.