‘Toxic’ running track leaves 100 Chinese schoolchildren sick
- Scores of youngsters need hospital treatment for nosebleeds, dizziness in weeks after track is installed
- Poisonous problem has been around for years, but authorities yet to provide a solution
More than 100 children at a primary school in eastern China have been treated for nosebleeds, vomiting, rashes and dizziness since a new running track was installed there in September, according to a local newspaper report.
About 30 pupils at Sanmen Experimental Primary School in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, required hospital treatment for such problems last month alone, The Economic Observer reported on Friday.
Parents said the deterioration in their children’s health coincided with the arrival of the new track, which gave off a foul smell as soon as it was laid.
“Jiajia began having frequent nosebleeds soon after the start of term in September,” a woman surnamed Zhang was quoted as saying about her daughter who goes to the school.
Another parent, Wang Li, said: “I looked up several reports on the internet, and the symptoms the children were experiencing, like rashes and nosebleeds, were the same as those mentioned in other reports about toxic running tracks.”
Many parents had complained to the school and some had withdrawn their children from class, the report said.
China has a long history of children suffering health problems after being exposed to the toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of running tracks.