Lead Poisoning

Posted on 13 September 2009.

The month of August saw hundreds of children in different areas of China diagnosed with lead poisoning, which can cause a range of problems, including anaemia, muscle weakness, brain damage and seizures.

The Wugang Manganese Smeltering Plant in Hunan province was closed on 13 August after 70% of those under 14 living in four villages near the plant were found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood.

A few days earlier, a lead smelting plant in Changqing township, Shaanxi province, was closed after 615 of 731 children in two villages developed lead poisoning. 166 of the children needed hospital treatment, while the others received treatment at home. The lead content in the air around the factory was found to be six times the level found a few hundred metres away.

The children's parents have been publicly expressing their anger. In Shaanxi province, villagers broke into the smelting company and about 100 police had to be sent to restore order. In Hunan province, parents blocked a road and overturned a police car. "Our health should be more important than money. The government didn't care about our health, now we're suffering. No wonder we're angry," one villager said (BBC).

Many parents appear to have little understanding of what the lead poisoning means. "Please tell us, can the lead ever go away or not?" one mother asked a Reuters reporter. "We get our water from our family well. We have no idea if it is safe enough, or what to do about food. The government isn't testing adults, so we don't even know if we are poisoned too." Her 8-year-old son had changed from an active little boy to a wan and listless child. Test results showed he had 249 micrograms of lead per litre (In the USA, the acceptable level is 10 micrograms per litre).

"The boom in metals prices has made investment in mines and smelters very profitable, and dangerously polluting plants have sprung up across the Chinese countryside," according to a Reuters report. "Local officials, who worry about losing a large taxpayer and employer and may even have a stake in the projects, often turn a blind eye to safety and environmental violations."

Lift up the children and parents affected by these lead poisoning scandals. Pray for the Lord to step into these situations and bring help and healing.

Pray that the children affected would receive all the necessary medical treatment and that they would be well cared for throughout their lives.

Pray that such incidents might not be simply covered up and forgotten. Pray that polluting plants would be permanently closed down and that no further plants would be able to open without proper safety and environmental protection.