Lead-battery emissions standards most strict

Shanghai's four lead-battery manufacturers have until next month to respond to the city's first-ever proposed industry emissions standards, which include regulations that are among the world's strictest.

Another some 30 relevant government bodies and research institutions are also expected to provide input on the draft by April 5 before local officials finalize the rules drafted last week, months after 49 children suffered lead-poisoning from a Pudong New Area battery plant last year.

The standards exceed outdated ones implemented in Beijing in 1996, and put Shanghai on par with Germany, which has the world's strictest regulations for lead-battery emissions, said Liu Xin, a press officer for Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, which helped the city's environmental protection bureau draft the standards.

"The strict standards compliment the city's position as a leading international metropolis with a large population density, which needs to mind the safety of its local residents," he told the Global Times Thursday.

With the proper adjustments, it is possible for manufacturers to meet the new standards, he added.

Still, such a move is likely to present some challenges as the standards, which prohibit local manufacturers from emitting more than 0.1 milligrams per cubic millimeters, while maintaining an overall emissions rate of no more than 0.0025 kilograms per hour, were levels that industry emissions exceeded last year by 81 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

But Liu said that the manufacturers will have time on their side. New facilities set up after August 1 are required to meet the standards before opening, while existing ones have until August 1, 2013 to comply.

Shanghai Johnson Controls International Battery Company, which authorities last month determined was mainly responsible for the city's lead discharges that poisoned the kids last year - a claim the company has since denied - declined to comment on the new standards when reached by the Global Times Thursday.

Environmental advocates, however, voiced hope that the strict standards would take affect before too long.

"Lead pollution in China is severe," Ma Tianjie, an activist from Greenpeace China, told the Global Times Thursday. "This brings the city a step closer to reducing industry pollution, which is hurting residents and the environment at a cost to society."