CHINA> Regional
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Villagers protest agaisnt suspected lead poisoning
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-17 21:49 SHANGHANG: Hundreds of residents in a township in east China's Fujian Province gathered in front of the local government Thursday afternoon in protest of suspected lead poisoning.
The villagers blocked a highway for several hours in the morning. Amid lead poisoning fears, 136 students were absent from the Central Primary School of Jiaoyang Township Thursday and 140 others from the local kindergarten. The primary school's headmaster Zou Chaolin said more students were absent Wednesday. The county government said that among 72 children who had taken blood tests, four have excessive lead levels in their blood, or more than 100mg a liter of blood, compared with the normal zero to 100 mg a liter. The other 68 children have 53-100 mg of lead a liter of blood. The county government has ordered the environmental protection bureau to beef up supervision on the plant. |