Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    THE running tracks at two more schools in Shenzhen have been confirmed to contain toxins, while those in eight other schools are listed as suspicious and are undergoing tests.

    The city’s education authority is scrambling to cope with surging complaints from students who reported symptoms possibly linked to the tracks.

    The city’s education bureau checked all polyurethane running tracks built after 2013 at 345 schools around the city after it was discovered that the running track at Meilian Primary School contained toxins.

    So far, at least 11 schools in Futian, Nanshan, Longgang and Bao’an districts were found to have tracks that contain toxins or are suspected of containing poisons. The city government and the education bureau planned to remove the running tracks at two of the schools that failed tests. The two schools are the Junior High School of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School and the Nanshan Primary School attached to Beijing Normal University.

    The running track at Meilian Primary School has already been removed.

    The city’s education bureau said in a statement late Wednesday night that all toxic running tracks will be removed if experts find it necessary. Authorities have promised to punish those responsible for the production, procurement and installation of toxic tracks.

    According to a report provided by the municipal education bureau, the air quality at the courts and fields at all 11 schools met environmental standards.

    The Shenzhen Foreign Languages School shut down its junior high school yesterday and urged students to exercise at home.

   Experts said that there are two reasons tracks might have toxins: either toxins were added during production or the track wasn’t allowed proper drying time when it was first installed.

    The Meilian Primary School in Futian District was shut down for two weeks last month after over 100 students suffered from coughing and nosebleeds.

    The incident caused worry among parents and prompted the municipal education bureau to start inspecting tracks at schools.

    Shenzhen is not the only city that has discovered toxic running tracks at schools. Cases of students getting sick and suffering nosebleeds were also reported in Jiangsu Province last month.

    Toxic running tracks were reported in Jiangsu Province only a few days before students at Shenzhen’s Meilian Primary School reported symptoms. Students from schools in Suzhou, Nanjing and Changzhou also suffered nosebleeds, dizziness and rashes.

    Inspections found that the polyurethane running tracks were to blame for the illness.

    “The plastic tracks in China mainly consist of polyurethane, a kind of nontoxic material,” Ye Ping, deputy director of Taizhou Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute, told the China Daily. “However, suppliers may add toxic adhesives. They give off a pungent smell and may cause itching and dizziness.

    “Some suppliers may also add a kind of material that helps the plastic solidify, but contains lead which will raise lead levels above normal in children’s blood after longtime exposure.”

    Ye told the paper that that the country has no regulations regarding toxins in running tracks.

    The Jiangsu educational department has suggested that middle schools in Nanjing grow natural grass on their playgrounds.