25-07-2015
The Housing Secretary, Anthony Cheung, says the government may stop using water pipes that require soldering in public housing so as to avoid a repeat of the lead contamination scandal.
Excessive levels of the potentially harmful heavy metal have been discovered in water samples at three public housing estates.
Professor Cheung was speaking after the government decided to test running water in public estates built after 2005, the year soldering began.
Meanwhile the Department of Health has been conducting IQ tests on more than 20 children whose blood has been found to contain excessive levels of lead.
The kids, who are under six years old, come from the Kai Ching and Kwai Luen estates, where lead has been found in some tap water samples.
The tests took place at the Child Assessment Centre in Kowloon City.
High exposure to the metal can impair brain development.
http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20150725/news_20150725_56_1118913.htm
