Excessive lead levels found in over 200 children in east China

Source: People's daily online

Medical tests showed more than 200 children in a town in east China's Anhui Province had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.

The Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital had tested about 280 children from Gaohe Township in Huaining County for lead poisoning since late December, and most had been diagnosed with high blood lead levels, said Cheng Bangning, deputy director of the hospital's micro-elements testing laboratory.

As of Wednesday, 23 children suffering from moderate to severe lead poisoning, or having more than 250 microgrammes of lead per litre of blood, had been hospitalized, with the youngest aged nine months, Cheng said, adding that five more such children were waiting to be admitted.

Most of these children were living in the town's Xinshan Community, where two battery plants operated nearby.

Read more: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7251593.html

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I sure hope they aren't making batteries for hybrid cars.

from the experience of other countries who have had lead problems.