Battery site blamed for lead cases

At least 44 children and some adults in Qingyuan city, Guangdong Province have tested positive for lead poisoning and the suspected cause is a battery factory located about 25 meters away from their homes. The factory regularly discharges excess waste but the results were alarming to many residents. Tests showed 10-month-old Yang Xiaopeng, a boy, has 550 micrograms of lead per liter of blood, five times higher than the acceptable limit of 100 micrograms. Common symptoms such as spots on the teeth, moody temperament, fidgeting, vulnerability to illnesses such as colds were present among these children.