Published Date: 2009-08-12 13:04:52
Subject: PRO/MBDS> Lead poisoning - China: Shaanxi
Archive Number: 20090812.2874

LEAD POISONING - CHINA: SHAANXI
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Date: Mon 10 Aug 2009
Source: Xinhua News Agency, China Daily report [edited]
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/10/content_11854691.htm>


300 children suffer lead poisoning
----------------------------------
More than 300 children with lead poisoning in Shaanxi province will
receive free medical treatment, a local official says.

The children, who all live near Changqing industrial park in
Fengxiang county, were found to have excessive lead content in their
blood after examinations by medical staff at Xi'an Central Hospital.

"Both of my children took physical examinations that showed the lead
in their blood far exceeded normal conditions," a farmer living near
the industrial park told China Daily yesterday [9 Aug 2009]. "The
lead in their blood is more than 250 mg per liter."

The normal lead content in blood ranges from zero to 100 mg per liter
and health is affected if the content is higher than 200 mg per liter.

[The farmer] said his children sleep more than before, cannot
concentrate, and react very slowly. All other children have similar
symptoms, he said.

Fears were first raised over the health of local children when a
parent took her child to the doctor in July [2009]. The child was
confirmed as suffering from lead poisoning and other parents,
noticing similar symptoms in their children, also took their children
to the doctor.

Local people believe that the nearby Shaanxi Dongling Lead and Zinc
Smelting Factory was to blame for the poisoning. However, there has
been no conclusive link. "The factory is only about 400 to 500 meters
away from our houses," said [one of the parents].

A factory employee told China Daily that managers had discussed the
incident with local government officials in Fengxiang. China Daily's
attempts to contact the factory's deputy manager were unsuccessful.
[The employee] said he believed the factory would present a
"reasonable" explanation and solution to the poisoning.

On Friday [7 Aug 2009], the local government promised to give free
treatment to the children, a local official said. [The farmer] said
that he had not been contacted about the offer.

An official of Changqing township refused to comment.

In 2006, the factory was required to help relocate the nearby
villagers because the lead from their production could harm people's
health. But so far only 100 of 581 households have been moved.

The villagers said they were willing to move but were short of money
for new houses. The only thing they can do is to transfer their
children to another school to avoid further poisoning.

About half of the parents in Maodaokou village have decided to
transfer their children to another school next semester. But others
do not have enough money, so their children must stay. Now the
parents hope that the government can work with the factory to speed
up the relocation process.

Many regions in Western China have introduced high-polluting
industries without the necessary environmental evaluation to boost
the local economy, but the developments sometimes impact the health
of local people.

Environmentalists urged that the development model be changed to
ensure people's health and safety.

[Editor: Wang Guanqun]

--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
<promed-mbds@promedmail.org>

[The newswire above is the 1st report of lead poisoning in China
during 2009. The last cases of lead poisoning in China were reported
from 2 villages in Gansu province in northwest China in 2006 (see
prior ProMED-mail posting Lead poisoning - China (Gansu) (04) 20061105.3177).

Lead is a metal, which exists in both organic and inorganic forms.
Lead is very stable, resistant to corrosion, and accumulates in the
environment. Most lead encountered in the environment today is
inorganic, see <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/lead/pb_lead2.html).
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends
public health actions be initiated in case of blood lead levels in
children greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. It is
also the level of lead targeted for elimination among young children
in the United States by 2010, see <http://www.cdc.gov/lead/>).

Lead is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and
young children and to pregnant women. Toxic effects are usually due
to long-term exposure. People are exposed to lead through the air
they breathe, through water, and through food or ingestion. They can
be exposed to lead contamination from the motor vehicle exhaust of
leaded gasoline, as well as from industrial sources such as smelters
and lead manufacturing and recycling industries. Small children can
be exposed by eating lead-based paint chips, chewing on objects
painted with lead-based paint, or swallowing house dust or soil that
contains lead (1).

Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it
frequently goes unrecognized. The main target for lead toxicity is
the nervous system, both in adults and in children. Lead can also
cause high blood pressure and anemia. In pregnant women, exposure to
high levels of lead may cause miscarriage. High level exposure in men
can damage the testes, responsible for sperm production.

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems,
and mental retardation. At very high levels, lead can cause seizures,
coma, and even death (1,2). Blood tests are commonly used to screen
children for lead poisoning. Exposure to lead also can be evaluated
by measuring erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP) in blood samples.
However, the EP level is not sensitive enough to identify children
with elevated blood lead levels below about 25 micrograms per deciliter (2).

References
----------
1. World Health Organization (WHO) 2009. Water-related Diseases.
(available at <http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/lead/en/>).
2. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2007.
ToxFAQs for lead (available at <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts13.html>).
3. Ye X, Wong O: Lead exposure, lead poisoning, and lead regulatory
standards in China, 1990-2005. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol, Nov 2006;
46(2): 157-62 (abstract available at
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16782249>).
4. Shen X, Rosen JF, Guo D, Wu S: Childhood lead poisoning in China.
Sci Total Environ, Mar 1996; 181(2): 101-9 (abstract available at
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8820381>).
5. Falk Henry: International Environmental Health for the
Pediatrician: Case Study of Lead Poisoning. Pediatrics, Jul 2003;
112: 259-64 (full article available at
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/112/1/S1/259>).
6. Wang YL: Industrial lead poisoning in China over the past 33
years. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf, Dec 1984; 8(6): 526-30 (abstract
available at <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6391901>).
7. Glotzer DE, Bauchner H: Management of childhood lead poisoning: A
Survey. Pediatrics, Apr 1992; 89: 614-8 (abstract available at
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1313555>).

For a map of China with provinces, see
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_pol01.jpg>.
For the interactive HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of China with links to
other ProMED-mail and PRO/MBDS postings in China and surrounding
areas, see <http://healthmap.org/r/00G5>. - Mods.SCM/YMA]

[For background reports on lead poisoning see the references below
available on the general ProMED-mail list, at
<http://www.promedmail.org>. - Mod.SCM]

2006
----
Lead poisoning - China (Gansu) (04) 20061105.3177
Lead poisoning - China (Gansu) (03) 20060917.2653
Lead poisoning - China (Gansu)(02) 20060916.2628
Lead poisoning - China (Gansu) 20060907.2534]
...................................yma/scm/yma/mj/mpp

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