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Riots as China lead scare hits 2000 children
The Times - August 22, 2009
Jane Macartney, Beijing – More than 2000 children have been found to have lead poisoning because Chinese factories greedy for profit have spewed out pollutants without carrying out even the most minor environmental monitoring.
Officials announced yesterday that 1354 children under 14, who had been living and going to school for more than two years within a few hundred metres of a manganese smelter, had excess lead in their blood. Local officials said the number could rise when further tests were carried out.
About 1000 people enraged to see their children falling sick while the government took no action clashed with police near the Wugang manganese smelting plant in Hunan province on August 8, blocking a road and overturning a police car.
One resident, Mr Xiao, who noticed his 10-month-old daughter was unable to keep down her milk, said: "I saw the reports on television about the incident in Fengxiang in Shaanxi and I realised that my daughter too was losing her hair."
Tests showed her blood contained 362 micrograms of lead per litre of blood while her sister's blood contained 232 micrograms. The maximum safety level in China is 100 micrograms.
Authorities ordered the smelter be shut last week and detained two of its executives on suspicion of causing severe environmental pollution.
Since it began production in May last year, the smelter has not submitted to any environmental safety tests even though schools and a nursery are within 500m of the plant.
The government is worried about the environmental and health costs of pollution and rising public anger.
Environmental Protection Minister Zhou Shengxian noted an increase in the number of "mass incidents", the official term for riots or protests, caused by environmental problems.
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