1,300 children near China smelter plant suffer lead poisoning

More than 1,300 children have tested positive for lead poisoning in China’s central Hunan province, state media reported. It is the second case in which huge numbers of children have fallen ill from poisoning in a month. 1,354 children who lived near a manganese processing plant in Wenping township had lead levels of more than 100mg per litre of blood, compared with the normal level of 0-100mg, China’s official Xinhua news agency said. The processing plant said to be ‘unapproved,’ has now been closed and two executives of the plant have been detained over the poisoning on suspicion of ‘causing severe environment al pollution.’

Earlier this month, another smelter had to be shut down in northern Shaanxi province, where more than 600 children were found to have lead poisoning. In both cases, the smelters were closed after angry parents confronted authorities because their children had got sick. Huang Wenbin, deputy environment chief in Wugang, said the Wugang Manganese Smeltering Plant opened in May 2008 without the approval of the local environmental protection bureau. Xinhua news service said a primary school, a middle school and a kindergarten were located within 500 metres of the plant. All the children affected live in four villages nearby and are under 14 years old.

Parents in the area surrounding the plant started to suspect the smelter as the cause of a string of illnesses among their children and on 8 August. They blocked a road in protest, reported the Associated Press news agency. The smelter, which had been running since May last year without approval from the local environmental protection bureau, was closed on 13 August.

On Monday, in Shaanxi province, northern China, at least 615 out of 731 children in two villages near the Dongling smelter in the town of Changqing tested positive for lead poisoning, a condition that can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory loss. Angry parents there broke into the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company, near the city of Baoji. At least 150 of the children poisoned needed to be treated in hospital. Lead poisoning can cause a range of health problems, from learning disabilities to seizures. Children under six are most at risk.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children