Lead poisons 45, stirs probe
By Wang Xiang |
March 24, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS the number of victims rose to 45, four officials in central China's Hunan Province were sacked after the environmental protection ministry started a probe into lead poisoning.
A special investigative team has been sent to Jiahe County and Guiyang Couty in Chenzhou City. The team will start a three-month crackdown on polluting industries in Chenzhou with the help of local officials, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
Two township leaders, Wang Guangjin and Li Hongyang, and two officials with local electric power authority, Zhang Renzhu and Li Yifu, were sacked for their responsibility in allowing the polluting factories in the city to operate.
Altogether 59 factories have been shut down and 54 others ordered to stop production since authorities admitted the cases last Wednesday.
By now, 45 children under the age of 14, most of them from Haotang Town of Guiyang County, have showed symptoms of lead poisoning, according to the public health bureau of Chenzhou.
Thirty-three children have been hospitalized. Two of them were seriously sick, said Li Yaogang, a official with Chenzhou public heath bureau. Others with slight cases were sent home for treatment under doctors' instructions.
Most of the patients were in stable condition. But there could be more reports of sickened children in the following days, a city health official said.
The cases emerged after 254 children were found with excessive levels of lead in their blood in Jiahe County of Chenzhou in July last year.
Excessive amounts of lead in the body can harm the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and anemia. In severe cases, it can lead to convulsions, coma and even death.
A special investigative team has been sent to Jiahe County and Guiyang Couty in Chenzhou City. The team will start a three-month crackdown on polluting industries in Chenzhou with the help of local officials, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
Two township leaders, Wang Guangjin and Li Hongyang, and two officials with local electric power authority, Zhang Renzhu and Li Yifu, were sacked for their responsibility in allowing the polluting factories in the city to operate.
Altogether 59 factories have been shut down and 54 others ordered to stop production since authorities admitted the cases last Wednesday.
By now, 45 children under the age of 14, most of them from Haotang Town of Guiyang County, have showed symptoms of lead poisoning, according to the public health bureau of Chenzhou.
Thirty-three children have been hospitalized. Two of them were seriously sick, said Li Yaogang, a official with Chenzhou public heath bureau. Others with slight cases were sent home for treatment under doctors' instructions.
Most of the patients were in stable condition. But there could be more reports of sickened children in the following days, a city health official said.
The cases emerged after 254 children were found with excessive levels of lead in their blood in Jiahe County of Chenzhou in July last year.
Excessive amounts of lead in the body can harm the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and anemia. In severe cases, it can lead to convulsions, coma and even death.
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