Aljazeera: China 'covered up' risk to children from lead

Aljazeera: China 'covered up' risk to children from lead

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US-based rights body says Chinese officials downplayed cases of lead poisoning among children and discouraged tests.

Chinese children suffering lead poisoning from polluting industries have been denied testing, effective treatment and even basic information by officials, a human rights advocacy group said.

The US-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) made the claim in a report on Wednesday, in which it said officials in provinces with heavy industrial pollution were restricting access to lead testing or falsifying test results.

The report follows China's latest lead pollution outbreak, after 103 children and scores of adults were poisoned by tinfoil-making workshops in eastern Zhejiang province.

HRW accused officials in four provinces - Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Hunan - of trying to cover up the extent of lead poisoning among local children.

"Local authorities are ignoring the urgent and long-term health consequences of a generation of children continuously exposed to life-threatening levels of lead," the study, entitled "My children have been poisoned: A public health crisis in four Chinese provinces", said.

There was no immediate reaction to the report from the Chinese government.

You ever notice how many really deformed children come from China, versus the rest of the world?

We're getting such a good deal on our cheap imports, right?

So I wonder if a kid died to make that cheap lead-painted keychain my kiddo is chewing on right now...

We'll pay for this, too, eventually.

I'm actually indifferent to the whole situation. Yes my heart does go out to those Chinese kids but what good will that do them? It's just words and hardly anyone is doing anything. Sure we can talk, discuss and plan our revenge; then you get the occasional news that something great has happened. Like the underdog has risen from obscurity and seems to go against what the TPTB does, but that's about it from my perspective.

Almost every country is getting imports from China now. If they peeve China off then they can kiss their cheap products goodbye, or at least most of them.

So its "either me or them". I know its sounds absurd for me to say that but its me, my opinion. I'd rather fight my own battle(s) against injustices that could affect me. So when push comes to shove, laying low and striking hard when the time is right is the doctrine I'll live by.

Just my 2 cents.

PS S+F for you btw.