Eight officials punished for E China lead poisoning that sickens 300

Eight government officials in east China's Zhejiang Province have been punished over a lead poisoning case in which 332 people, including 99 children, were found to have excessive lead levels in their blood, local authorities said on Friday.

Zhejiang Haijiu Battery Co. improperly disposed of metal in the county of Deqing, which sickened local residents, a spokesman with the county government said on Monday.

Chen Zuoping, deputy head of the county government, received a demerit. Wang Fadi, deputy chief of the county's health bureau, was given an administrative warning, according to officials from the the supervision bureau of Huzhou city, which administrates Deqing.

Six other officials from the local government, the environmental protection bureau and the health bureau also received administrative punishments for lax supervision, the officials said.

So far, 69 people, including 35 children, have been hospitalized, while the others received outpatient treatment, the officials said.

Most of the sick are recovering after treatment, but due to the side effects of the medicine, some children become nauseated and throw up.

Two-year-old Shen Senjie's lead level has dropped to 118 micrograms of lead per liter of blood, but that still exceeds the normal level of 100 micrograms of lead per liter of blood.

"My son still requires treatment for two more months," said Shen Guoquan, the boy's father. "He is quite weak and the medicine often makes him throw up."

Excessive amounts of lead in the blood can damage the digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems and cause stomachaches, anemia and convulsions.

The legal representative of the battery plant was detained Monday.

Authorities have ordered a thorough safety check for all 273 battery factories in Zhejiang.

Haijiu Battery Co., Ltd., founded in May 2003, mainly produces lead-acid batteries for motorcycles. It has about 1,000 employees and an annual output of 9 million batteries.

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