Tianjin explosions: Cyanide 356 times limits found at China blast test point, officials say
Posted Thu at 10:00pm
(Thursday, 20 August 2015)
Photo: Smoke rises as damaged vehicles are seen burning near the site of the explosions in Tianjin, China. (Reuters)
Cyanide levels more than 350 times standard limits have been detected in water close to the site of deadly explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials said.
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Related Story: Homeless Tianjin residents demand compensation and answers
Map: China
The Tianjin environmental protection bureau said the chemical was detected at 25 water monitoring sites within the cordoned-off area around the blast site on Wednesday.
"An excessive level of cyanide was detected in eight locations with the highest reaching 356 times" the permitted level, the bureau said.
Authorities have previously said that cyanide tests had shown levels 28 times the limit. The environmental bureau statement did not explain the sudden spike.
Of the 16 test points outside the alert area, cyanide was detected at six, but all below the normal limit, the bureau said.
What is sodium cyanide?
* Used for fumigation, extracting gold and silver from ores, and chemical manufacturing
* Releases hydrogen cyanide gas — a highly toxic asphyxiant that interferes with the body's ability to use oxygen
* Can affect the body through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or eye contact
* Exposure affects the brain, heart, blood vessels and lungs and can be rapidly fatal
* Sodium cyanide is odourless when dry; many people can't detect hydrogen cyanide gas either
Source: US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The blasts at a hazardous good storage facility last week triggered a giant fireball, destroying high-rise apartments and killing at least 114 people. More than 60 others are missing, with seven of the recovered bodies yet to be identified.
The explosions have also sparked fears of toxic pollutants contaminating the air and water of the city, which has a population of around 15 million people.
About 700 tonnes of highly poisonous sodium cyanide were at the site, officials have said.
Sodium cyanide, which has a variety of industrial uses including gold mining, is a toxic white crystal or powder. It can release hydrogen cyanide gas, used in gas chamber executions in the US.
Acute exposure at lower concentrations can cause weakness, nausea and eye and skin irritation while chronic exposure can affect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
President calls for action
State broadcaster CCTV reported the average level of cyanide in the water filling a huge crater at the centre of the blast site was more than 40 times average.
"All the polluted water is contained in the cordoned off area," environment protection official Tian Weiyong told reporters.
"We won't drain it until we clean it up."
Recovery personnel have built a dam of sand and earth around the blasts' central 100,000-square-metre "core area" to prevent pollutant leakage and officials insist air and water are safe.
But locals openly express doubts and international environmental environment group Greenpeace has urged caution.
Photo: Before: Tianjin industrial area (Supplied: Skybox Imaging/Google) After: Damage from Tianjin explosion After: Damage from Tianjin explosion (Supplied: Skybox Imaging/Google)
President Xi Jinping and other top leaders called Thursday for those responsible to be held accountable, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
State media has reported that 10 executives from Tianjin Rui Hai International, the company that operated the warehouse storing the dangerous chemicals, were detained after the blasts.
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), meanwhile, has ordered inspections of its caches of weapons and ammunition in the wake of the Tianjin explosions, a military newspaper reported.
China's army and armed police were told to check warehouses holding weapons, ammunition, fuel, chemicals, explosives and toxic materials, the PLA Daily said.
The instructions came after state media reports last week that the State Council Work Safety Commission announced nationwide inspections of businesses involved in dangerous chemicals and explosives.
Energy firms told to pause operations
On Thursday, three Chinese energy firms were told by local authorities to halt operations after concerns that some facilities storing hazardous materials were too close to homes and schools.
The now-devastated Tianjin port warehouse was 600 metres from the nearest housing estate. That was closer than allowed by Chinese laws, state media said.
Amateur footage of gigantic explosions in the Chinese city of Tianjin captures the wave of emotions as onlookers reacted first with curiosity, then disbelief, horror and panic.
The government of the coastal city of Hangzhou told CNOOC Hangzhou Marketing Company to suspend its operations at a facility currently storing at least 3,000 tonnes of gasoline and diesel.
There are "safety risks", the Hangzhou government said on its website.
No buildings were close to the site when the facility was constructed in 1989, but homes and shops as well as a primary school have sprung around it over the years, it said.
Warehouses of dangerous chemicals occupying an area exceeding 500 square metres should be built at least 1,000 metres from public buildings and transportation facilities, according to regulations published by the National Safety Administration in 2001.
Housing sites have crept closer to industrial parks and ports over the past decade as local governments, keen on the higher taxes and rates, sold off such land to residential developers, said Stuart Ross from property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.
The mother of a missing firefighter broke down outside a news conference after trying to demand for more information from government officials. Reuters: Jason Lee
PHOTO: Gallery: Deadly blasts rock Tianjin in northern China
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Cyanide levels more than 350 times standard limits have been detected in water close to the site of deadly explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials said.
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