If it ain’t one damn thing …

That China’s waterways are badly polluted, is common knowledge. Less well recognized is the increasing pollution of its land. Zhou Jianmin, director of the China Soil Association, reports that, “More areas are being affected, the degree of contamination is
intensifying and the range of toxins is increasing.”

The main culprit is arsenic from China’s 280,000 mines. Lead and heavy metals from