Lead Poisoning in China
Early last month, in Mengxi Village, a tiny hamlet in eastern China, a mob of more than 200 furious citizens stormed the Zhejiang Haijiu Battery Factory, a maker of lead-acid batteries for motorcycles and electric bikes. The crazed crowd crashed through a brick wall, entered the factory office and destroyed desks, cabinets and computers.
The provocation for this riotous behavior was the news that workers and villagers had been poisoned by lead emissions from the factory, which had operated for six years despite flagrant environmental violations. A confirmed 233 adults and 99 children were found to have concentrations of lead in their blood, up to seven times the level deemed safe by the Chinese government.
In the past two and a half years, thousands of workers, villagers and children in at least nine of China's thirty one province-level regions have been found to be suffering from toxic levels of lead exposure, mostly caused by pollution from battery factories and metal smelters. This exposure has caused irreversible harm in the victims; specifically, diminished intellectual capacity and damage to the kidneys, liver and nervous system. Shamefully, many of the local governments have attempted to cover up this disaster.
This catastrophe underscores a pattern of government neglect seen in industry after industry as China relentlessly strives for economic growth with only the most fundamental safeguards. According to reports, local officials, chasing the dividends of economic development, consistently ignore environmental contamination, worker safety and dangers to public health until forced to confront them by episodes like the Haiju factory riot.
A report by Human Rights Watch states that some local officials have reacted to mass poisonings by arbitrarily limiting lead testing, withholding and possibly manipulating test results, denying proper treatment to victims and trying to silence parents and activists.
In the "they never learn" department, this tragedy brings back painful memories of a previous Asian industrial pollution disaster: that which occurred at Minimata, an incident where industrial dumping of mercury caused massive damage to the citizens of that little fishing village in Japan. (I have mentioned Minimata in a previous post; photojournalist W. Eugene Smith and his wife Aileen exposed that catastrophe in a powerful book of photos entitled "Minimata").
The provocation for this riotous behavior was the news that workers and villagers had been poisoned by lead emissions from the factory, which had operated for six years despite flagrant environmental violations. A confirmed 233 adults and 99 children were found to have concentrations of lead in their blood, up to seven times the level deemed safe by the Chinese government.
In the past two and a half years, thousands of workers, villagers and children in at least nine of China's thirty one province-level regions have been found to be suffering from toxic levels of lead exposure, mostly caused by pollution from battery factories and metal smelters. This exposure has caused irreversible harm in the victims; specifically, diminished intellectual capacity and damage to the kidneys, liver and nervous system. Shamefully, many of the local governments have attempted to cover up this disaster.
This catastrophe underscores a pattern of government neglect seen in industry after industry as China relentlessly strives for economic growth with only the most fundamental safeguards. According to reports, local officials, chasing the dividends of economic development, consistently ignore environmental contamination, worker safety and dangers to public health until forced to confront them by episodes like the Haiju factory riot.
A report by Human Rights Watch states that some local officials have reacted to mass poisonings by arbitrarily limiting lead testing, withholding and possibly manipulating test results, denying proper treatment to victims and trying to silence parents and activists.
In the "they never learn" department, this tragedy brings back painful memories of a previous Asian industrial pollution disaster: that which occurred at Minimata, an incident where industrial dumping of mercury caused massive damage to the citizens of that little fishing village in Japan. (I have mentioned Minimata in a previous post; photojournalist W. Eugene Smith and his wife Aileen exposed that catastrophe in a powerful book of photos entitled "Minimata").
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by
Roger
(new)
Jun 26, 2011 03:33PM
These kinds of events are not just limited to distant countries. All nations have injured hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocents in this way. The only difference is the success or failure in their attempts to cover up the outflow of news. There is nothing wrong with capitalism but as long as it exists this sort of thing will continue. I realise that this sounds pretty cynical but that's the way of the world.
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Humanity defines society and chases with false signposts. China wants to drown the sound of its conscience with the moans of the deformed persons on its rush for suspect glory. The irony is there is nothing at the maggot pile of human longing for wealth and glory.
