3.1 EFFECTS OF SOIL CONTAMINATION IN CHINA.

Agricultural activities.

 Excessive usage of pesticides.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pesticides are labelled as a
type of chemical that is often utilized by farmers in agricultural activities to kill or
to control the number of pests and disease carriers animals which includes insects,
fungi , rodents and even unwanted plants like weed. These pests tend to destroy
the crops either by feeding on it or through indirect damage by transmitting a
bacterial infection to the crops. A few examples of pesticides that are commonly
used in China are insectides, fungicides and herbicides. China as known is a
massive consumer of pesticides due to the high demand of crops and this causes
the consumption of pesticides to increase drastically over the years. Pesticides are
notorious for having a longer retention time in the soil in which the concentration
of clay and other organic matter is at high level and this substances further creates
composite colloids. Pesticides are also able to influence the humidity and pH
value of the soil and therefore the degradation of the microbes in the soil is also
impacted.

Excessive usage of pesticides can lead to decrease in number of beneficial soil

microorganisms which can cause degradation of soil. Plants relies on the soil
microorganisms in order to produce nitrates from atmospheric nitrogen.
Herbicides such as triclopyr and glyphosate prevents the soil bacteria from
changing into nitrite as well as reduces the life span and growth of free living
nitrogen fixing bacteria in soil. Loss of microbes can prompt to a situation where
the plants would not be able to stay alive. They will rapidly lose the ability to
carry out the photosynthesis process and eventually die.
 Usage of fertilizers.
Artificial fertillisers such as the nitrogen fertiliser turns the soil into acidic
conditions which results to decrease in productivity and polluting the
environment. China has beeen experiencing a decline in the pH of the soil since
the late 1980s as a account of overuse of nitrogen fertilisers. Soils slowly turns
acidic under natural conditions as the time passes by. High levels of nitrogen
fertilisers can turn the soil into acidic in both directly or indirectly. The nitrogen
that is applied to crops in large portions over the time causes the top soil to be
damaged and reduces crop yields. Soil acidification is much more likely to occur
in sandy soils as compared to clay soils because clay soils is able to buffer the
side effects of chemical fertilization method.
Waste disposal.

 Soil contamination
Waste can be known as the continous flow of substance residues that overloads
the capacity of recycling processes that occur naturally. The main reason why
soils becomes contaminated is because of the presence of man-made waste. The
type of waste that is usually found is carcasses of animals, rotten fruits and
vegetablesand dead plants. This waste easily decomposes into the soil and
provides nutrient for the plants. Unbiodegradable wastes such as plastics and
metals will keep on logging as it takes a very long time to decompose
Contamination in soil takes place when chemical material is poured or buried
together with the soil or even the industrial smokestack is in contact with the soil.
The plants at the affected soil area absorbs the dangerous material. Once the soil
is consider polluted, the whole area needs to be dig to carry out cleaning process.
REFERENCE

1. https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/139893/Zhenning_Shi.pdf?sequence=1

2. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-soil-pollution.php