Hundreds of Chinese students develop serious illnesses at school built on toxic site
China's ministry of environmental protection is investigating a school in east China's Jiangsu province, after almost 500 students fell ill with a range of illnesses as serious as cancer.
Of the 641 students from the Changzhou Foreign Language School examined by doctors, 493 of them were diagnosed with several diseases.
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According to China Daily, the pollution-related illnesses include dermatitis, eczema, blood abnormalities and leukemia -- a type of cancer.
The students started to fall ill after the school moved to a facility built on a toxic site that previously housed three chemical factories in September, reported CCTV News.
An environmental report of the site revealed that the soil and surrounding groundwater contained organic pollutants such as carbon tetrachloride and chlorobenzene. Traces of mercury, lead and cadmium were also found.
The level of one of the carcinogens was almost 100,000 times the safety limit.
CCTV said the level of one of the carcinogens was almost 100,000 times the safety limit.
Former workers from the factories told Chinese reporters that the toxic chemicals were not disposed off properly, and were instead buried near the plants to save time and money.
The report also stated that the builders involved in the construction of the school had used groundwater contaminated by the chemicals.
Despite continuous demands from parents to move the school to a safer site, the school and local education authorities had refused. They reportedly laid a layer of clay over the site to seal it, instead of treating the infected soil.
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