China Closes Smelters As Protests Rise Over Lead Poisoning

Chinese officials have temporarily closed at least five heavy metal smelters as concerns rise over high levels of lead found in children in nearby villages and towns. The closings have occurred after parents recently protested at a lead and zinc smelter in Shaanxi Province and a manganese smelter in Hunan Province, following the disclosure that hundreds of children near the two smelters have high levels of lead in their blood. Those two smelters, as well as lead smelters in at least three other locations, have been temporarily closed while officials conduct environmental assessments. Lead pollution can cause severe cognitive impairment and other ailments in children exposed to high levels of the metal. Reuters reports that lead poisoning is endemic in villages near Chinese smelters, and the problem is particularly acute in the ore-rich Qinling range, located in a poor and remote region of north-central China. As China’s environmental laws have been strengthened in recent years, lead smelters have moved from more populous and affluent metropolitan areas to poorer regions of rural China, where residents badly need jobs. But protests are rising as the health effects of lead poisoning are becoming more evident.