Lead poisoning scare spreads to central
China
BEIJING (AFP) - - Medical authorities in central China
have discovered more than 1,300 cases of suspected lead poisoning
in children, state media said Thursday, in the second such incident
this month.
Authorities in the city of Wugang in Hunan province have shut
down a smelting plant and detained two of the company's executives
on suspicion of "causing severe environmental pollution", the
Xinhua news agency said.
Locals had complained of large amounts of thick smoke and dust
coming out of the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant since it began
operations in May last year, it said.
A total of 1,354 children -- or about 70 percent of those under
the age of 14 that lived in four villages near the smelter -- were
found to have levels of lead in their blood that exceed safety
standards, the report said.
Seventeen of the most severely affected have been
hospitalised.
A primary school, a middle school and a kindergarten are located
within a 500-metre (1,650-foot) radius of the plant, which was shut
down last week, it added.
Provincial medical teams were conducting secondary tests to
confirm the initial results.
So far, they have found 45 cases in which lead levels exceeded
200 milligrams per litre, it said.
Lead levels of between zero and 100 milligrams are considered
normal. A reading of more than 200 milligrams is considered
hazardous, with children more vulnerable to lead poisoning which
can harm the nervous system.
The Wugang incident comes on the heels of another case in
northern Shaanxi province, where more than 850 children have been
affected by lead poisoning caused by pollution from a smelting
plant, according to Xinhua.
More than 170 children in Shaanxi's Changqing township were
hospitalised, the agency said.
On Monday, villagers stormed the Shaanxi smelter, smashing
trucks in anger at the case. The plant has also been shut down.
China's rapid industrialisation has led to widespread
environmental damage over the last 30 years, with the nation
boasting some of the world's worst water and air pollution.
--AFP
