DANNY MOKdanny.mok@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 26 August, 2015, 7:00am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 26 August, 2015, 10:25am
St Thomas' Primary School. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The lead-in-water scare has spread to another primary school where a sample was found to contain levels of the heavy metal more than 21 times over the safe limit.
St Francis of Assisi's Caritas School on Wai Chi Street, Shek Kip Mei, said a sample taken from a water fountain in the playground contained 220 micrograms of lead per litre, more than 21 times the World Health Organisation’s safety level of 10mcg/l.
Another two samples taken from a canteen contained 25 and 26mcg/l.
School head Yiu Fan said she was surprised by the test results. She noted that the water fountain was equipped with a filter which was inspected in May.
Two water samples from the general office and a staff room were satisfactory.
The school has reported the findings to the Education Bureau and will adopt emergency measures.
An inter-departmental meeting on the contamination scare on campuses has been scheduled by the government for Thursday.
On August 21, one of six samples taken from St Thomas’ Primary School on Pratas Street, Sham Shui Po, contained 43.2 mcg/l of lead, more than four times the WHO’s safety level.
The contaminated sample had been collected earlier this month from a tap for washing hands in a first-floor classroom at the campus, which was completed in 2011.
Five other samples – in which lead levels were found to be lower than 5mcg/l and within safety limits – were collected from drinking machines located in the staff room, the school office’s pantry, the school hall, the sports ground and the covered playground. The machines were installed with distillers.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1852596/another-hong-kong-primary-school-hit-be-lead-water
