Lead poisons 1,300 Chinese children near smelter
Last Updated: Thursday, August 20, 2009 | 5:45 PM ET
CBC News
More than 1,300 children were sickened by lead poisoning in central China — the second such case in a month, state media said Thursday in Beijing.
Authorities shut down a smelter in Hunan last week and detained two of its executives on suspicion of "causing severe environment pollution," after tests showed 1,354 children, or nearly 70 per cent of those tested, had excessive lead in their blood, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
That figure is expected to rise as more children are tested. They live near a manganese processing plant, which apparently opened in May 2008 within 500 metres of a school without being approved by the local environmental protection bureau.
In another case this week, at least 615 out of 731 children in two villages in Shaanxi province tested positive for lead poisoning near the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in the town of Changqing. Children from six other villagers there are being tested.
Lead poisoning typically occurs in children and can damage the nervous and reproductive systems. It can also cause high blood pressure, anemia and memory loss. In extreme cases, victims can fall into comas and die.
With files from The Associated Press
