When poisoned children stop making news
On February 25, the Shanghai municipal government officially announced the investigation results of the elevated blood lead levels in some children from the Pudong Kangqiao area. After testing 1,306 children in Kangqiao, it was found that 49 children had elevated blood lead levels, mainly among those aged 1 to 3 years old. The incident was caused by three enterprises discharging lead in violation of regulations. It was determined that this was a sudden public health event triggered by increased lead content in the environment, and the government ordered the offending enterprises to repair the contaminated soil within a specified time limit. (The Beijing News, February 26)
Once again, cases of elevated blood lead levels in children have emerged. Indifference has far surpassed sorrow. Apart from the skyrocketing numbers, the young children who have had their health and happiness prematurely depleted, as well as the anxiety and unease in the hearts of their young parents, are probably only known and silently endured by themselves.
At the same time that 49 children with elevated blood lead levels were detected in Shanghai, by February 25, another 32 children in Dongtang Town, Renhua County, Guangdong Province, were found to have elevated blood lead levels, increasing from an initial 37 to 96. Are so many children marked with elevated blood lead levels destined for such a fate? If the local governments in remote and underdeveloped areas use blood lead for blood money out of helplessness, then what about the children with elevated blood lead levels in Shanghai's Kangqiao? Under the noble, prosperous, and beautiful facade of this international metropolis, there exist numerous severely polluting enterprises violating regulations just in the Kangqiao area, and they have existed for a long time. Before these children with elevated blood lead levels were detected, the local government seemed to be completely unaware of these highly polluting enterprises, turning a blind eye to them.
The three enterprises investigated in Shanghai's Kangqiao all adjusted their processes without approval and discharged excessively. Enterprises, in pursuit of profit, will stop at nothing and even take reckless risks. In the eyes of these entrepreneurs, there is only profit, no regard for life. They won't feel a bit sorry for secretly discharging pollutants, nor will they feel any compassion for the blood-stained wealth. But what about our government and regulatory authorities? Are they still idling or tacitly permitting such actions? Officials, for the sake of their own positions and achievements, use their power to separate the interests of the people, either turning a blind eye or becoming accomplices. The cash in hand is far more important than the health of the people.
Behind every case of elevated blood lead levels in children stands a highly polluting enterprise. Behind every standing polluting enterprise lies the shadow of the local government, the neglect and dereliction of duty by regulatory authorities. If we do not fundamentally change our development model, if we do not completely abandon GDP evaluations, if officials' mindsets remain unchanged, if we do not impose severe legal penalties on illegal enterprises, and if we do not hold negligent regulatory authorities accountable, then other cases of elevated blood lead levels in children will continue to make headlines.
