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Chinese city government rejects state television report of 500 high school students falling ill from chemical exposure
City government of Changzhou says only 133 students of nearly 600 tested reported abnormalities, including a ‘normal number’ with thyroid disorders
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 19 April, 2016

Li Jing

A city government in eastern China has rejected a report by the state broadcaster claiming nearly 500 students at fell ill after they moved to a new campus close to a contaminated former industrial site in September, saying only 133 students were tested with various abnormalities.
The city press office of Changzhou, in Jiangsu province said 597 students of the privately-run Changzhou Foreign Languages School had medical checkups in eight hospitals in the city, and test results showed 464 were healthy.
Among the 133 those who fell ill, 71 were found having thyroid nodules.
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The response followed a report by the official China Central Television (CCTV) that 493 students had developed health problems, including bronchitis, blood and thyroid abnormalities, and even lymphoma and leukaemia, after the school moved last September to a new campus adjacent to a site that had been contaminated by three chemical plants.
In an apparent move to deny a link to pollution, the city government said thyroid nodules usually develop over a long period of time. They occur in about 7 per cent of teenagers aged 13 to 15, suggesting the abnormality rate among students in the school is in line with the general trend.
Desks are moved into the Changzhou Foreign Languages School during construction. Photo: 163.com
The city government said another 22 students were tested with swollen lymph nodes in the neck. Five were tested to have abnormalities in liver function, while eight with abnormalities in kidney function.
Shanghai-based news website ThePaper.cn reported that only one student was diagnosed with lymphoma, but was diagnosed before the school relocated to the new campus, citing an unnamed government official.
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The Changzhou government said only four of 2,451 students and three of 210 teachers were on medical leave.
The school also sent an open letter to students accusing the CCTV report of “exaggerating” the problem with “factual errors”.
The Changzhou Foreign Languages School campus. In the background are the sites of former chemical plants. Photo: 163.com
The school said it did not understand “why CCTV would broadcast this report” as many students would take exams in the coming months.
A parent of a student at the school told the South China Morning Post on Monday that she took her son for a medical checkup in neighbouring Wuxi city for fear that hospitals in Changzhou were under pressure by the city government to give false reports.
She said her son was found to have thyroid abnormalities.


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