For the first time in 20 years, federal health authorities have lowered the recommended limit for lead exposure in young children, which they say could add 200,000 children to those believed to have unsafe lead levels in their blood.

The new standard, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday and applicable to children under 6, lowers the threshold to 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, from 10 micrograms per deciliter.

High lead levels in young children have been found to affect cognitive development and may lead to a lower I.Q.

Delhi's air is no doubt polluted and gains from CNG have been frittered away. But the air in some residential areas can be far more toxic than we imagine. A study by school of environmental sciences at JNU, published in last month's Atmospheric Pollution Research (APR) journal, has found the content of chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) higher than the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) standards. In short, continued exposure to these inhalable carcinogenic metals can lead to grave health risks in future.

The United States lead recycling industry will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with tightening environmental rules but the pressure of rising costs eventually may force some output cuts or closures, according to industry experts.

Some firms in the U.S., particularly those without well-established collection systems for old batteries, may struggle long term as new domestic lead smelter capacity comes on line, increasing competition for an already limited pool of the feed.

Lead emission from factories and the natural environment in China's manufacturing heart of Guangdong has poisoned 160 children, Xinhua said on Sunday in the country's latest case of unfettered industrial toxins.

Children from Dongtang town in Renhua country were found to have "elevated" levels of lead in their blood after inhaling lead-contaminated air and eating food tainted with lead, Xinhua said.

Th e natural level of lead in Dongtang is also higher than usual as the town sits on a lead-zinc ore belt which raises the lead content in the soil, Xinhua said.

A China battery unit of Johnson Controls was ordered to halt production by the government after the plant was linked to incidents of lead contamination in Shanghai that had sickened some children.

Shanghai Johnson Controls International Battery Co came under the spotlight after children in the Kangqiao area of Shanghai were found to have ultra-high levels of lead in their blood during medical checks.

Shanghai authorities for the first time directly linked lead pollution that they said had sickened local children to emissions from a battery plant owned by Johnson Controls Inc., putting a further cloud over a facility that is already likely to be closed longer than initially expected.

The selected private party will hold 50 per cent stake in the projects, estimated to cost Rs 12.5 crore each, followed by 25 per cent each by the State and the Union governments.
Kolkata, Feb. 23:

The West Bengal government in collaboration with the Centre will set up e-waste dismantling facilities in the State on a public private partnership (PPP) basis.

Shortage of affordable and safe drinking water has given boost to mushroom growth of bottled water industry in the country with around 69 including some fake and suspicious brands being sold in the market.

The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has recently declared 16 out of these 69 brands of bottled water unsafe though a large number citizens prefer bottled water due to poor quality of drinking water being supplied by civic authorities.

Out of the 69 brands, 53 have been declared safe while the number of chemically safe is 55 and unsafe 14.