Hundreds of students at a high school in East China's Jiangsu Province were sickened by alleged environmental pollution from nearby former chemical factories, media reported Sunday.
Since Changzhou Foreign Languages School (CFLS) relocated to its current site in September 2015, a total of 493 students at the school have developed abnormal blood parameters and diseases such as dermatitis, eczema and bronchitis, while some have even been diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
Parents have attributed the illnesses to a construction site north of the school, where three chemical factories used to stand.
The level of pollutants detected in the groundwater and soil at the construction site were excessively above safety standards, with chlorobenzene levels as much as 100,000 times higher than the standard, according to the CCTV report.
One employee who had worked for 30 years in one of the three factories, Jiangsu Changlong Chemicals Co, was quoted as saying by CCTV that some employees would dispose of contaminated water directly outside the factory and often buried dangerous waste underground.
Ji Zhong, a deputy director of Changzhou's education commission, insisted that CFLS' new site had passed an environmental assessment and noted that the school was moved to its current location due to safety hazards at its previous facilities, CCTV reported.
