Anhui official fired following lead poisoning case

An official in Huaining county, Anhui province, has been removed from his post after more than 200 children were found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood, state media reported. Zhao Yiping, who headed Huaining county’s environmental protection bureau, was fired a week after Borui Battery, a local company, was found to have polluted soil in the area. Despite local regulations forbidding battery plants from being built within a 500-meter radius of a residential area, Borui Battery is located across the street from a residential complex. Production at Borui Battery has been shut down pending a government investigation. Tests of 308 local children found that 228 had high levels of lead in their blood; 23 children in serious condition were sent to hospital for treatment.