Lead-poisoned villagers in Shaanxi fear new location unsafe

Villagers in Shaanxi whose children were made ill by lead poisoning will be relocated more than one kilometre from the smelting plant blamed by the government for releasing the toxic pollution, state media reported, but they are still worried their new homes will be unsafe.

The local government said it would invite environmental protection and construction experts to check whether the new area for the homes, on a plateau, was suitable for living in and vowed to speed up the relocations, Xinhuanet reported. Only 156 households out of 581 had moved in the project, which was launched in 2004 before the plant was built.

As of yesterday, 615 of 731 children in Madaokou and Sunjianantou villages, northeast of the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting plant in Fengxiang county, had tested positive for lead poisoning, Xinhua reported.

Han Qinyou, environmental protection monitoring station chief for Baoji, the city with jurisdiction over the county, said the lead content in the air along the main roads near the factory was 6.3 times higher than sites located 350 metres away. He said the factory was the major cause of the poisoning and ordered operations suspended.

Other sources included exhaust fumes from vehicles, home renovations, diet and living habits.

Lead poisoning can damage the nervous, urinary and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure, anaemia and memory loss. It affects children's learning ability and can lead to coma and death.