China: Lead-Poisoned Kids May Still Be Unsafe After Relocating

In China’s Shaanxi province—where hundreds of children were sickened by lead poisoning from a local factory—families may still be at risk.

According to state media, more than 80 percent of kids in two villages nearby the smelting plant have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.

So authorities shut down the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co plant last week. And state media reports that authorities are promising to relocate hundreds of families within two years—moving them further away from the toxic plant.

But this may not be enough. State-run China Daily says that after the factory opened in 2006, authorities promised villagers that anyone living within a third of a mile would be relocated. But now, three years later, only a quarter of those villagers have actually been moved. And—even so—the new homes are not necessarily safe, since they’re still less than a mile away, and most of the kids living there now who were tested are sick with lead poisoning, too.

Parents had launched a protest against the factory on Monday (Aug. 17), angry over what’s happened to their kids. State media says on Tuesday officials were sent to speak to residents, and the mayor apologized to them.

Protests over environmental pollution are common in China, where lax regulations and corruption often lead to the improper disposal of industrial waste.

(NTDTV)