Are China’s toxic running tracks still poisoning its children?
Officials investigate new outbreak of nosebleeds in Chinese schools just as the government releases reforms two years in the making
An outbreak of nosebleeds among pupils in two Chinese provinces at the start of the new school year is being investigated to see whether toxic chemicals in running tracks are to blame.
The incidents happened just as the Ministry of Education began rolling out a set of upgraded standards, released in May for implementation in November, for synthetic materials used in the sports grounds of infant and primary schools across the nation.
The regulations were developed in response to widespread health concerns about toxic plastic in running tracks after several high-profile cases in 2016 when pupils experienced nosebleeds, headaches and dizziness after spending time near the tracks.
The latest cases occurred in the city of Handan, northern China’s Hebei province, and in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province. Several first-grade pupils at a junior school in Handan began experiencing nosebleeds earlier this month, according to the Yanzhao Evening News.
They were all in first-floor classrooms next to a running track that had been retrofitted with a plastic coating in the weeks leading up to the start of school, the report said.