A Chinese government official who blamed lead poisoning in more than 300 children on the possible chewing of school pencils was excoriated in state-run media and ridiculed online on June 16.
Lead levels as high as three times national standards were found in the blood of children in a village in Hunan Province, with the contamination blamed on pollution from a local chemical plant, the official news agency Xinhua reported.
The factory has been closed down for investigation, Xinhua said citing local officials.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透社
Su Genlin, the chief of Dapu Township, however, told the state broadcaster CCTV that “Kids use pencils in school, and chewing pencils could also cause the excessive (lead) levels.”
In Chinese, the character for the heavy metal is also used in the word for pencil, in the same way that “lead” has a double meaning in English.
The mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Daily, blasted the official in an op-ed published on June 16.
“It is scientific knowledge that pencils are made from graphite,” the article by commentator Zhang Yusheng said. “Does this official’s statement show ignorance, or just disregard for the people’s welfare?”
Chinese Internet users also mocked the official. “How can such low IQ cadres appear in public?” asked author Cui Chenghao on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.
China’s rapid industrialization over the past 30 years has left the country with widespread environmental damage that has taken a heavy toll on public health.
Recent studies have shown that roughly two-thirds of China’s soil is estimated to be polluted and that 60 percent of underground water is too contaminated to drink.
In 2011 authorities in Zhejiang Province detained 74 people and suspended work at hundreds of factories after 172 people — including 53 children — fell ill with lead poisoning.
(AFP)
一名中國官員因公開表示咬學校鉛筆導致三百位孩童鉛中毒,而遭國家媒體痛斥與網民揶揄。
中國官方通訊社新華社報導,湖南省一座村莊孩童血液裡鉛含量超出國家標準值三倍,民眾將汙染矛頭指向當地一間化工廠。
新華社援引當地官員的話表示,該工廠已停業接受調查。
然而,大浦鎮鎮長蘇根林告訴中國國家媒體中央電視台表示:「小孩在學校讀書,用鉛筆的時候在嘴裡咬,也可以形成超鉛。」
中文字裡,這個重金屬元素與鉛筆所使用的是同一個詞彙,就好比鉛的英文「lead」有雙重意思般。
為中國共產黨喉舌的《人民日報》在其六月十六日刊登的言論版上,抨擊該名官員。
評論員張玉生在文章裡寫道:「鉛筆是由石墨製成的,這是基本的科學知識。」他表示,這位官員的聲明是顯露無知嗎?亦或只是漠視人民福祉?
中國網民也嘲笑這位官員。作者崔成浩(音譯)在類似推特的中國社群網站新浪微博上說:「怎麼能有智商這麼低的幹部出現在公眾面前?」
中國過去三十年快速工業化造成廣泛的環境破壞,也在公共衛生上付出沉重代價。
最近幾份研究顯示,粗略有三分之二的中國土地預估已遭受汙染,而且百分之六十的地下水汙染太嚴重而不宜飲用。
二0一一年,浙江省當局在一百七十二人(其中包含五十三名孩童)出現鉛中毒後,扣留七十四位人員,並勒令上百間工廠停工。
(法新社╱翻譯:林亞蒂)
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