The Chinese authorities closed nine factories that had used industrial waste and toxic materials to produce running tracks for schools.

The CCTV channel held an investigation, which revealed that in Hebei province the factories used industrial waste to produce rubber cover for street running tracks, which were used in schools of China. The running tracks contain heavy metals and toxic substances harmful to human health.

Global Times newspaper reported that the city authorities closed nine factories and arrested the factories’ employers. Earlier the parents of schoolchildren had complained that the sharp smell of the new rubber caused nose bleeding , headaches, and allergy to children. The Ministry of Education published an announcement in which it they informed about non safety standards of the running track cover and called on the educational institutions’ administrations to dismantle it, reports RIA Novosti.