Certain harmful chemicals banned in developed countries are still used or produced in China, where toxic pollution is severe in certain areas and making some villages highly prone to cancer, admitted the Ministry of Environmental Protection in a work plan on the prevention and control of chemical pollution issued on Wednesday.

The plan specifically listed 58 kinds of chemicals that would have their production, use and discharge strictly supervised.

"It is the first time that the ministry clearly put forward these dangerous chemicals, which will serve as a guide for the prevention and control of toxic substances in the future," said Wu Yixiu, a senior campaigner from Greenpeace China, adding that it is also rare for the government to admit to the existence of cancer clusters in rural areas.

Among them, Nonyl Phenol (NP), a kind of environmental hormone, is prohibited from use in the textile industry by the European Union, but is widely applied in the production of detergent, textiles and other industries in China.

Statistics from Greenpeace China showed that annual global consumption of NP decreased from 500,000 tons in 1998 to about 400,000 tons in 2003, while the number in China increased from 50,000 tons to over 90,000 tons during the same period.

The plan said improper industrial layout increased the risk of chemical pollution, while insufficient supervision and assessments of industries using harmful chemicals were hindering prevention efforts.

Wang Canfa, head of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Research Institute under the China University of Political Science and Law, believed that a lack of legal measures targeting chemical polluters is one major reason behind the problem.

"For example, people who are responsible for discharging toxic waste into underground water supplies will only be fined but won't face criminal charges, as we don't have the relevant laws. So illegal discharging is more economical for companies as chemical waste treatment is expensive," Wang told the Global Times on Thursday.

Industrial pollution, especially concerning underground water, has been gaining wide attention as online campaigns accused factories in Weifang, Shandong Province of pumping their waste underground, despite local environmental protection departments insisting that the accusations were false after their assessment.

Public anger toward authorities' work was also evident when several netizens in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province said they would give the head of the local environmental protection department as much as 300,000 yuan ($48,090) if he swims in a severely polluted river.

Wang said what is urgently needed is not a work plan but actual action and policy on efforts to control chemical pollution.