Chinese official suspended over lead poisoning
BEIJING: Authorities say an environmental official in eastern China has been suspended after a battery factory sickened more than 200 children with lead poisoning.
The government of Huaining County in Anhui province says the head of the local environmental protection bureau, Zhao Yiping, was suspended from his duties after tests confirmed that lead emissions from a battery plant had polluted the nearby soil.
The government said in a statement Sunday that 228 children out of 307 tested were found to have high levels of lead in their blood and 28 of them were hospitalized. It said the battery plant had been forced to halt operations.
New cases of lead poisoning regularly occur in China, the world's largest producer and consumer of lead.
The government of Huaining County in Anhui province says the head of the local environmental protection bureau, Zhao Yiping, was suspended from his duties after tests confirmed that lead emissions from a battery plant had polluted the nearby soil.
The government said in a statement Sunday that 228 children out of 307 tested were found to have high levels of lead in their blood and 28 of them were hospitalized. It said the battery plant had been forced to halt operations.
New cases of lead poisoning regularly occur in China, the world's largest producer and consumer of lead.
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