Ocean pollution in China

China is well known for water and air pollution problems, but we can also add the ocean pollution problem to the list of environmental problems that China is facing today. China's coastal waters are getting more and more polluted by almost every possible form of waste, even toxic waste like lead and cadmium.

In fact the situation with lead and cadmium is already out of control because latest report said that levels of lead detected in shellfish were 50 percent higher than normal, while cadmium levels were about 40 percent higher compared to normal levels.

Lead is highly damaging for humans, it can have extremely harmful effect on the human nervous system, and can even cause brain disorder if consumed in excessive amounts.

Polluted coastal waters in China.

The situation with ocean pollution is becoming worse with each year and latest numbers say that 147,000 square kilometres (59,000 square miles) of China's coastal waters failed to meet standards for "clear water" in 2009, a significant increase in ocean pollution of 7.3 percent over 2008. One of the most obvious signs of tremendous ocean pollution in China are algae blooms, that are in most cases caused by excessive sewage, and in 2009 algae bloom affected 14,100 square kilometres which is around 3.5 times the size of the area affected by such blooms in the 1990s.

The multidimensional pollution problem in China is the result of tremendous economic growth in the last 20 years. On one side economy has never felt better, and on the other environment has never been in such poor state. Overall environmental quality is fast deteriorating in China, and China's pollution problem is likely to become even bigger in years to come.