Lead poisoning investigation in China alleges cover up by kindergarten

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

An investigation into the lead poisoning of hundreds of children in western China has revealed an alleged cover-up by the management of the kindergarten at the centre of the scandal.
Authorities in China's Gansu province published an update on the probe this week, after 247 blood test samples of children were found to have abnormally high levels of lead earlier this month.
Chinese authorities have arrested six people — including the Tianshui kindergarten's principal — and at least 27 government officials are reported to be under further investigation.
The latest report said that hospital workers had tampered with the children's blood tests, that the kindergarten's management had bribed local authorities, and there had been no routine food safety checks at the facility in the past two years.
Previously, investigators found that the kindergarten management allowed kitchen staff to produce food using paint pigments purchased online that were later found to contain lead and were marked as inedible.
Kitchen staff first bought the paint pigments in 2024, according to the investigation update.
It said that the paint pigments were used because the kindergarten management wanted to improve the colour and appearance of its food.
Pictures of the colourful food were posted widely on social media to attract more students.
Videos unable to be verified by the ABC appeared on Chinese social media at the weekend, apparently showing parents confronting police and authorities about the lead contamination.
Some parents in the videos claimed they were beaten by police and demanded further investigation of the case.
In one of the videos, an angry parent who had their child's blood tested in multiple provinces reads the test results, with the results from a neighbouring province revealing lead contamination eight times higher than the local test results.
The government's latest investigation found the provincial testing lab's practices were inadequate.
At least two blood test results received at a local hospital were tampered with.
One test result was changed from 292.37 to 42.37 micrograms per litre, while another was changed from 440.14 to 103 micrograms per litre.
The report also found that the provincial Centre for Disease Control staff did not perform up to standard and the 247 blood test results were unreliable.
The report said all 247 children who were found with high levels of lead in their blood had received treatment and only one was still in hospital.
Local media reported earlier that in 2006, two factories not far from the kindergarten allegedly polluted the local water system, which also caused more than 200 children to fall sick.
The two factories involved were shut down after the scandal.
The public has suspected a connection between the 2006 pollution event and this month's blood contamination issue.
The latest investigation report claimed officials had tested water and dirt samples collected from the former factory sites, with results showing the lead levels met local requirements.