Brain Damage Likely for 4 Chinese Kids
- From: cnw <cnw@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 14:33:55 +0800
Brain Damage Likely for 4 Chinese Kids
By ALEXA OLESEN , 09.15.2006, 01:09 AM
At least four children among the hundreds of people sickened by emissions from a
lead smelter in western China are likely to suffer permanent brain damage, state
media said Friday.
A top Chinese environmental official said the factory was emitting 800 times the
acceptable levels and accused local authorities of failing to do anything.
Some 250 children were still in hospital weeks after the mass poisoning case was
uncovered in Hui county in Gansu province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Four are reported to have more than 450 milligrams of lead per liter of blood -
a level that constitutes severe poisoning and that usually results in brain
damage, Xinhua said.
At least 877 people from Hui county's villages of Xinsi and Moba, including 334
children under 14, have tested positive for excessive amounts of lead in their
blood since August.
Xinhua said the 250 hospitalized children, all under 14 years of age, are being
treated with vitamin supplements and most are in stable condition.
The pollution has been traced to the Hui County Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Plant
Co., a 10-year-old factory that was allegedly warned several times by
environmental officials to stop discharging pollutants but continued to do so.
The plant has since been demolished.
In 2003, the plant released 201 tons of lead into the atmosphere, 800 times
acceptable levels, Pan Yue, the deputy director of the State Environmental
Protection Administration, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.
He said the case and another in Hunan province where two factories were found to
have been dumping arsenide and other pollutants into a river for at least a year
were "typical examples of pollution problems caused by a dereliction of duty" by
local officials.
"The plants appeared to cause the pollution, but in fact the root of the problem
lies in the local governments and local protectionism," Pan was quoted as
saying.
In the river pollution case, a random water quality check on the Xinqiang River
in Hunan's Yueyang county uncovered on Sept. 8 that its levels of toxic arsenide
were 10 times acceptable standards. The discovery forced officials to shut down
water supplies to 80,000 people in the area for four days.
The pollution was traced two companies: the Haoyuan Chemical Company, a sulfuric
acid manufacturer, and Taolin Lead-Zinc Ore Chemical Plant.
Two factory managers, one from each company, have been detained and could face
criminal charges, Pan was quoted as saying.
Hunan officials have promised to severely punish the local officials
responsible, Xinhua said.
There have been no reported arrests or punishments meted out to the Hui county
plant or to county officials. The smelter has allegedly agreed to compensate
affected villagers but details of the compensation have not been released.
The poisonings added to a string of recent pollution disasters in China that
have prompted violent protests in some areas.
.
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