How we fail our kids

COMMENTARY

Published: 28 Sep 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

At first, it seemed to be good news _ pollution control authorities found that industrial pollution was not the cause of high lead levels in Rayong children's blood.

But then came the bad news _ X-ray fluorescence lead detection equipment found dangerously high levels of lead and other heavy metals coating playground equipment, dining tables and plates at schools where students were found to have excess lead in their bodies.

When researchers from Thammasat University's public health faculty discovered the shocking fact in June last year that 82 out of 907 students at 15 schools had high blood lead counts, most people assumed that factories surrounding the schools were to blame.

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Victor
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Discussion 6 : 28 Sep 2012 at 09.466
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School children got killed every year because of poorly installed drinking fountains and playground equipments.
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barryw
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Discussion 5 : 28 Sep 2012 at 09.435
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Dis#1 - I agree re unclean water. Water, along with clean air to breathe, is the most basic requirement for any human, yet the government is unable to deliver it. It is absolute beyond belief that in the 21st century everyone has to buy specially treated water to drink. Of course, it is very big business, which might go some way to explaining why that situation exists.
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Ian
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Discussion 4 : 28 Sep 2012 at 09.364
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I am puzzled By lead in playground equipment, unless it is in the paint, surely the machines are made of steel. As to the plates that makes a bit more sense, some glazes are based on lead, but in an inert non organic form.
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NangrongJ
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Discussion 3 : 28 Sep 2012 at 09.243
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Oh how easy it is to point a finger from the cosy chair of a journalist. Lets delve a bit deeper into this problem. There isn't a safety culture in Thailand! Children from the earliest of years will share a motorcycle with several others. they will then go on to ride one as early as 10 years of age. They throw litter everywhere, because they see their parents do it. The beautiful parks and walks have dog mess which carries many diseases.

I could go on but why target the end product when the real problem is much further back?
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ricardofel
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Discussion 2 : 28 Sep 2012 at 06.422
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Education and safety is an oxymoron. The care and safety of children in Thailand is non-existent. Schools is villages, in poor areas are a disgrace, corruption is rampant which is one reason children are being poisoned. You can beg the government all you want but to no avail! They just don't care. In the US children are protected, in Thailand they are discarded.
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khunbj
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Discussion 1 : 28 Sep 2012 at 05.511
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This is indeed worrying, but to counter balance this please see this survey from Ministry of Public Health which shows that after Nonthaburi then Rayong Student have the second highest IQ. http://thailand.digitaljournals.org/index.php/JMHT/article/view/11393
I would be surprised if similar tests in other urban areas were very different from Rayong , everybody in Thailand is exposed to pollution and Thailand is still a 3rd tier country when it comes to reducing pollution, there is still a long way to go. And remember that the body's biggest organ is the skin, through which we can assimilate poisonous chemicals through the water in which we bath...this is an area that should be investigated very carefully because the water supplied to the public is not properly cleaned or checked for that matter, water that is clear is seen as being clean but it can easily contain dangerous chemicals as well.
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How we fail our kids | Bangkok Post: opinion