GUANGZHOU: The local government has pledged to check more children living near an industrial park in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, after 25 children were confirmed to have lead poisoning.

Fifty-four children have been rechecked, with five within the healthy range, 24 having high blood-lead levels, 21 mildly poisoned by lead and four seriously poisoned, vice-mayor Wang Dekun said late on Monday.

One of the children, the most seriously poisoned, showed a blood-lead level more than six times the permissible limit.

The case broke out last Friday, with media reporting at least 44 children living in the Guangjin apartment buildings in the Yinyuan Industrial Park of the Qingyuan Economic Development Zone had been diagnosed with excessive lead levels in their blood.

A few adults have also been diagnosed with abnormally high lead levels. The actual number of lead poisoning victims has yet to be determined.