- Exposure pathway of this incident was contaminated food by industrial pigments
- “Culprits”: Unregulated pigments, food safety, environmental governance
- Strategies: targeted monitoring, traceability systems, targeted safety training
- Open Access
- Viewpoint
Who Are the “Culprits”: Environmental Health Alert from the Lead Poisoning Incident at a Kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu, China
- Huiji Liu 1,2,
- Tong Qiu 1,
- Leicheng Zhao 1,2,
- Zhiguo Cao 1,2,*,
- Taicheng An 3,4,*
Author Information
Received: 18 Oct 2025 | Revised: 12 Dec 2025 | Accepted: 18 Dec 2025 | Published: 22 Dec 2025
Highlights
Abstract
The blood lead (Pb) poisoning incident at a kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu, China in July 2025, underscores the persistent challenge of heavy metal exposure among vulnerable populations. Despite strengthened global controls on heavy metals such as Pb, environmental residues and diverse exposure pathways continue to pose health risks, particularly to children with developing nervous systems. The abnormal blood Pb levels in the affected kindergarten children were almost entirely (>99.9%) attributable to a single exposure pathway: consumption of food contaminated with industrial pigments. The severity of this incident was intensified by three main “culprits”: inadequate oversight of unconventional pollution sources, insufficient food safety awareness, and poorly coordinated environmental health governance. Effective prevention requires a comprehensive approach: enhanced monitoring of child-centric environments, interdisciplinary risk assessment, lifecycle regulation of heavy metal-containing products, and science-based public awareness campaigns. We propose a targeted monitoring framework for kindergartens in historically contaminated regions, including quarterly soil/dust Pb testing, semi-annual air quality assessments, and annual blood Pb screening of children, supported by a digital traceability system for industrial pigments. Protecting children from such hidden threats demands systematic and collaborative action across research, governance, and society.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
heavy metals | children exposure | exposure pathway | lead poisoning incident | health risk
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How to Cite
Liu, H.; Qiu, T.; Zhao, L.; Cao, Z.; An, T. Who Are the “Culprits”: Environmental Health Alert from the Lead Poisoning Incident at a Kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu, China. Global Environmental Science 2026, 2 (1), 38–42. https://doi.org/10.53941/ges.2026.100003.
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Copyright (c) 2025 by the authors.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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