Many decline offer to escape lead

• Source: Global Times
• [02:16 December 03 2009]
• Comments

The new location has yet been decided, Zhao said.

Zhao added that the excessive levels of lead were a result of years of pollution.

A doctor surnamed Li at Jiyuan Health Center for Women and Children told the Global Times Wednesday that only a few children visit the hospital for tests these days.

However, a villager surnamed Zheng, who takes his grandson to Jiyuan First People's Hospital for the treatment, was worried.

"The first and most important thing for us right now is the treatment," he said. "For the other matters, the government said they would give an official explanation next year."

China Economic Weekly quoted an official of one lead smelter as saying that the closures have resulted in the loss of millions of yuan.

"No wonder some villagers are too upset to move, because villagers and the lead plants are bonded by the same interest."

A massive lead poisoning scandal became public in August in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, where 851 children had excessive levels of lead in their blood, prompting the local government to launch a relocation plan. Several other provinces also reported similar incidents afterward.

Sun Ye contributed to this story