The investigation into the “abnormal blood lead levels at Maixi District Hexishi Peixin Kindergarten, Tianshui City, Gansu Province” confirmed that the incident was caused by the deliberate addition of high-lead industrial pigments to food by the kindergarten staff, resulting in 247 children and 28 staff members exceeding the blood lead limits. Six individuals have been arrested on suspicion of “producing toxic food,” and more than twenty officials from various departments including the Gansu Provincial Health Commission and the Tianshui City Committee have been investigated or held accountable. A senior Chinese media figure pointed out that the hasty conclusion of the case by the authorities was due to fear of public outrage.
On July 20, Gansu officials reported that from April 2024 to July 2025, the kindergarten chef He Mou Xia, at the instruction of the principal Zhu Mou Lin and investor Li Mou Fang, repeatedly purchased red, yellow, and green industrial pigments labeled as “not for consumption,” and mixed them into foods such as “tricolor jujube cakes” and “corn sausage rolls.” Testing revealed that the yellow pigment used contained a lead content as high as 209,890.63 milligrams per kilogram.
As of now, out of 251 children at the kindergarten, 247 have abnormal blood lead levels, and out of 34 staff members, 28 have exceeded the limit. The public security authorities have arrested six individuals and detained two, with three released on bail pending trial.
The report stated that the Tianshui Second People’s Hospital had illegally altered children’s blood lead test reports twice, changing abnormal data to normal values, delaying the exposure of the incident. The hospital director, deputy director, and laboratory staff, among five individuals, have been held accountable.
Serious violations were also found during the re-examination by the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The investigation uncovered issues such as testing blood samples without thorough mixing and chaotic procedures in the laboratory. Party secretary Wang Wenjun, director Sun Jianyun, and seven others have been investigated.
The incident has exposed a severe dereliction of duty within the local government’s supervision system. The report revealed that ten officials including the Tianshui City Committee secretary and mayor, as well as the Maixi District Committee secretary and district head, have been held accountable; officials from the Maixi District Education Bureau and Market Supervision Bureau are suspected of dereliction of duty, with some accused of accepting bribes and turning a blind eye to illegal enrollments and food safety hazards.
Following the official announcement of the results, Chinese media figure Geng Yan (pseudonym) expressed to Epoch Times that the investigation was “too narrow in scope,” focusing only on the kindergarten internally without extending to surrounding businesses and the environment, raising doubts about a hurried closure of the case.
He questioned the officials, “By only testing within the kindergarten, without expanding the investigation to potential lead sources citywide, it’s hard to convince the public. I know that there are many metal processing factories and storage sites in the vicinity of Tianshui, and they have likely not been thoroughly investigated.”
The public also widely questions why the kindergarten did not use legal, lower-priced edible colorants. A netizen commented: “Why did the healthcare and disease control systems collectively fail? Why did the supervision turn a blind eye for years?”
Some netizens believe that the official release of the so-called investigation results within 20 days of the blood lead incident outbreak is “too hasty” and potentially aimed at “covering up other issues.”
Geng Yan analyzed, saying, “This (official response) is more of a gesture, done for the eyes of the CCP Central Committee. Without a motive for investigation and a complete chain of evidence, it is simply to quickly calm the storm. The high-ranking officials in Gansu ‘can’t sit still,’ fearing the loss of their positions.”
This is not the first time Tianshui, Gansu, has experienced a lead poisoning incident. In 2006, more than two hundred people in Wujiage Village, Ganquan Town, Maixi District, suffered collective lead poisoning due to pollution from two lead smelters. Geng Yan remarked, “I once went there to interview, and local officials obstructed me in every way, not allowing reporters to contact villagers. I saw that the villagers’ teeth were all blackened, that’s lead poisoning, the incident was temporarily covered up, with meager compensation, sparking strong public discontent. Hong Kong media also reported on the matter.”
Environmental activist Zhang Lan (pseudonym) from Lanzhou also pointed out to Epoch Times reporters the striking similarities in the handling of this incident to the Wujiage case years ago: “The government and hospital both concealed the villagers’ elevated blood lead levels, tampered with test reports, superficially rectified pollution enterprises, hastily held those accountable under public pressure, and eventually, each villager received just over a thousand yuan in compensation.”
The case is still under investigation. The Gansu provincial government has pledged to continue holding those responsible accountable, provide medical treatment for all children and staff with elevated blood lead levels, improve food and regulatory systems, and prevent similar incidents from recurring.
However, many netizens responded with a “wait and see” approach to the official promises. Has the full truth of the incident been revealed? Are the accountabilities sufficient? The public is watching closely, wondering if there will be higher-level accountability or in-depth investigations initiated.