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Heavy metal pollution alarming despite discharge drop

Xinhua, November 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Heavy metal pollution still poses a glaring risk on China's environment, despite a drop in the discharge of five key heavy-metal pollutants in 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said on Thursday.

The discharge of five key heavy metal pollutants -- lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and metal arsenic -- declined by 20.8 percent throughout 2014 compared with 2007, the MEP said following an assessment at 28 provincial localities.

The discharge of heavy metal is still high due to the past three decades of rapid industrial expansion, the MEP said in a statement.

Some regions even had a remarkably higher level of discharge in 2014 as compared to 2007. Hebei, Sichuan Shaanxi, Fujian, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, for example, face the daunting task of controlling the pollution.

The MEP also named five cities for "exceedingly rapid growth" of heavy metal pollutant discharge, including Yantai in Shandong Province, Chenzhou, Loudi and Yueyang in Hunan Province, and Liangshan prefecture in Sichuan Province.

The MEP said it will review heavy metal pollution control next year and penalize localities that fail to meet the requirements. Endi