Substandard plastic tracks in an east China school. (File photo)
An eastern Chinese province has launched a probe into the synthetic rubber tracks on campus after students were reported poisoning from "harmful" substances in tracks.
A dozen of students at primary schools in Suzhou and Wuxi, both in Jiangsu province, showed symptoms of nose bleeding, dizziness and rash since the autumn term began last month, and the schools' newly-installed synthetic rubber tracks were suspected the cause, according to the education department of Jiangsu.
Du Wei, an official from the provincial education department, told a press conference on Wednesday that the government has started an inspection on all tracks in schools to guard against possible poisoning incidents.
"The investigation is already under way. The results will be made public when it is over," said Du.
According to Du, a total of 552 Tartan tracks have been installed in primary and middle schools in Jiangsu since 2012.
"The tracks which are reportedly made of harmful substances were installed by the concerned schools on their own," said Du.
"It (the poisoning cases) might be an isolate incident, because there are no similar complaints about the Tartan tracks."
