2009 Shaanxi lead poisoning scandal

Lead poisoning incident in Shaanxi, China March 2020 The 2009 Shaanxi lead poisoning scandal occurred in the Shaanxi province of China when pollution from a lead plant poisoned children in the surrounding area.https://archive.today/20110512174049/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6832217.ece China uses fear to hush up poisoned children Over 850 were affected. Villagers have accused the local and central governments of covering up the scandal. History In 2003 the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company set up a factory in the Changqing townshipMore than 1,300 children fall ill near Chinese smelting plants near the city of Baoji, describing it in brochures as "a garden-like factory". Soon "100,000 tons of lead and zinc a year and 700,000 tons of coke" were being produced. In 2008 it paid more than £10m in taxes to the local government, 17% of the administration's total income, and provided jobs for 2,000 households. Local parents however noticed that children were showing signs of illness - such as nose bleeds and memory problems. 851 children from seven villages surrounding the plant displayed up to 10 times the level of lead in their blood deemed safe by Chinese authorities. Over 170 of the children had to be hospitalised.More parents protest against lead poisoning in China Local villagers protested to authorities but claim they were ignored. On 17 August 2009 they attacked the plant causing the managers to flee. The plant has now been closed down, but according to Western reports all coverage in the Chinese media of events has now been banned. Chinese lead supplies the country's battery industry, the world's largest. Lead poisoning can lead to anaemia, muscle weakness and brain damageW.H.O. lead poisoning and health and damages the nervous and reproductive systems. Similar events The Times reported in September 2009 that "similar protests broke out in three other provinces, where horrified parents living near smelters of lead, copper and aluminium also learnt that their children had been poisoned—1,300 of them in one city alone". Villages that suffer from such pollution are often dubbed 'cancer villages".Lead poisoning haunts Chinese smelter communities http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health/stories/lead-poisoning-haunts-chinese-smelter-communities https://web.archive.org/web/20090928073516/http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health/stories/lead-poisoning-haunts-chinese-smelter-communities 28 September 2009 2009-09-14 Child health is an important issue in China, where many families are restricted to just one child.http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health/stories/2nd-lead-poisoning-case-hits-china-1300-sick 2nd lead poisoning case hits China, 1,300 sick 14 September 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090825214352/http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health/stories/2nd-lead-poisoning-case-hits-china-1300-sick 25 August 2009 Nearly 2,000 children were poisoned in the Shaanxi and Hunan provinces. 19757511 2009 Watts J. Lead poisoning cases spark riots in China 374 9693 868 Lancet 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61612-3 28603179 Parents and villagers rioted in the Hunan province after the mass poisonings became known. The government promised to move villagers to a new, safer living location, but plans for the move were postponed when the new location was found also to be contaminated. Parry J. Metal smelting plants poison hundreds of Chinese children BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) 339 aug24 2 b3433 2009 19703927 10.1136/bmj.b3433 28884452 See also Pollution in China References Category:2009 in China Category:Health disasters in China Category:Scandals in China Category:Economic history of the People's Republic of China Category:Lead poisoning incidents Category:2009 health disasters Category:2009 in the environment Category:2009 scandals Category:Environmental disasters in China