{"id":60074517,"date":"2025-03-27T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T13:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60074517"},"modified":"2025-03-27T17:31:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T17:31:44","slug":"thallium-pollution-taints-drinking-water-in-two-hunan-cities","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/thallium-pollution-taints-drinking-water-in-two-hunan-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinking water polluted by thallium in two Hunan cities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Levels of the heavy metal thallium were found to exceed safe limits in a major river in Hunan province, threatening the safety of drinking water in nearby cities, Caixin<\/a> magazine reported this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing an unpublished government notice circulating online, Caixin said the thallium concentration in the section of Leishui River between the cities of Chenzhou and Hengyang was considered \u201cabnormal\u201d. Yongxing County, an area under Chenzhou\u2019s administration, initiated a Level 4 emergency response \u2013 indicating a \u201csudden environmental event\u201d \u2013 on March 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 25, a notice issued by the Hunan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment confirmed<\/a> this. It stated that the concentration of thallium was found to be 0.13 micrograms per litre, above the national 0.1-microgram limit for drinking water. The source of the pollution was a cement production company in Chenzhou, where thallium dust was dislodged during the dismantling of a kiln and washed into the river by rainwater, the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thallium is a toxic heavy metal that, when inhaled or consumed, can cause health problems, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, numbness and hair loss. The main source of thallium pollution is industrial production, primarily generated during the smelting of non-ferrous metals such as lead, zinc, and copper, and ferrous metals such as steel, noted<\/a> Peng Yingdeng, a researcher at the Industrial Wastewater Pollution Control Engineering Technology Center of China\u2019s Ministry of Ecology and Environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for bottled water has increased in areas such as Leiyang, a city downstream of Chenzhou which gets some of its tap water from Leishui, reported China National Radio<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leishui is the largest tributary of the Xiangjiang River, and many sulphur mines, pyrite mines and smelters exist along the latter, said<\/a> Peng. In recent years, the Xiangjiang River basin has faced multiple instances of excess discharge and abnormal concentrations of thallium. In 2023, Caixin<\/a> reported that since 2020, abnormal concentrations of thallium have been recorded in 17 of the 22 drinking water sources along the Xiangjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a cleanup effort in 2022, however, the average thallium concentration of the Xiangjiang River basin has decreased by more than 50% from 2020 levels, said<\/a> Huang Yu, deputy director of the Hunan ecology and environment department.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Dialogue Earth\u2019s previous <\/em>analysis<\/em><\/a> on China\u2019s policy on pollution.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Levels of the heavy metal were found to exceed safe limits in a major river in Hunan province, threatening the safety of drinking water in nearby cities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006649,"template":"","categories":[760],"tags":[551,20000325,20000341],"country":[20000110],"digest-collection":[50039911],"class_list":["post-60074517","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pollution","tag-health","tag-industry","tag-water-pollution","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDrinking water polluted by thallium in two Hunan cities | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Levels of the heavy metal were found to exceed safe limits in a major river in Hunan province, threatening the safety of drinking water in nearby cities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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