Society

Dozens have excessive lead levels in E China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-05 18:35

DEQING, Zhejiang - Dozens of people living near a battery plant in Zhejiang province have dangerously high lead blood levels, according to medical tests carried out since March.

Some people in Xinshi Town of Deqing county have excessive blood lead levels, said a spokesman for the county's information office.

Zhejiang Haijiu Battery Co Ltd had been ordered to suspend its operations. The county government sent an investigation team to the company on Thursday, said the spokesman.

In Mengxi village of Xinshi town, medical tests on 19 children, including a five-month baby, showed excessive lead levels in their blood, but the total number of poisoned has not been released since many more people need to be tested, said Rong Weiguo, who has worked in the battery plant for three years.

Rong's four-year-old son, nephew and niece all had high lead levels, with the lowest at 293 micrograms of lead per liter of blood, far exceeding the normal level of 100 micrograms of lead per liter of blood.

The three children were sent to a hospital in Shanghai on Wednesday for further tests and treatment, said Rong.

Some adults, including the factory workers and local villagers, also had excessive lead levels, with the highest being 590 micrograms of lead per liter of blood, said a worker surnamed Chen, whose lead level was 413 micrograms per liter of blood on April 29.

Excessive amounts of lead in the blood can damage the digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems and cause stomach aches, anemia and convulsions.

The county's environmental protection officials collected samples of soil, water, vegetables and grain from areas surrounding the plant on April 30. The test results have not yet been released.

The battery company's deputy general manager Zhao Guogen said, "It may have to do with the fact that some workers did not take a shower and change their work clothes before leaving work. But our company will foot the sick children's medical bills."

Haijiu Battery Co Ltd, founded in May, 2003, mainly produces lead-acid batteries for motorcycles. It has about 1,000 employees with and an annual output of 9 million batteries.