The local hospital was unable to conduct blood tests to indicate lead toxicity but has been urged to purchase the required medical devices. A panel of experts from the Ministry of Health and the Gansu provincial health department on Wednesday have established a plan to provide more accessible blood tests for villagers in the county.

Earlier figures provided by the Huixian county government show that 877 people from the villages have tested positive with at least excessive amounts of lead in their blood. Their tests had to be conducted at the Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, 300 kilometers away from Huixian County. Not all of those with elevated lead levels have been hospitalized.

The government of the county has said it will provide subsidies to the villagers who had to travel to Xi'an for tests.

The Huixian County Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Co. Ltd. is being blamed for causing the public health crisis and polluting the environment.

The soil within a radius of 400 meters around the smelting plant has been polluted and the provincial environmental protection bureau has ordered the smelter to be be dismantled.

The former state-run plant was privatized in 1996 and produced about 5,000 tons of lead a year.

It failed to go through an environmental assessment after its upgrade in 2004, and its waste disposal equipment did not meet national standards.

The factory continued to operate secretly after being told to cease production earlier this year.

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