A battery plant was closed in Fujian Province after 121 children were found to be suffering from lead poisoning, state media reported yesterday.
Of 287 children aged under 14 tested in Longyan City, Shanghang County, 120 had lead levels higher than 100 micrograms per liter of blood and one had 218.6 micrograms per liter, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the county government.
DEMAND
The tests were carried out after local residents demanded action by blocking a major road on Sept. 17 and refusing to let their children attend school.
The Huaqiang Battery Plant, suspected to be the source of the poisoning, has been closed pending investigations, the report said.
Senior county official Lin Xu was quoted as saying that the medical costs and testing of all children under 14 living within 600 meters of the factory would be covered by the government.
PRECEDENTS
It was the latest in a spate of lead-poisoning cases in China in recent months.
More than 2,000 children were found to have lead poisoning in separate cases in Hunan, Yunnan and Shaanxi provinces last month.
Lead poisoning can result in anemia, muscle weakness, gastrointestinal problems and brain damage. Symptoms usually appear over an extended period of time.
The natural level of lead in the blood is zero, and negative impacts can occur in children whose blood has less than 10 micrograms of lead per liter, the WHO says.
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