BEIJING — Chinese officials have pledged to replace school running tracks made of industrial waste that have reportedly sickened thousands of children, the latest public health scandal in a country already troubled by environmental hazards including air pollution and soil contamination.



The Ministry of Education said late Wednesday that it would coordinate with environmental protection and quality inspection authorities to inspect synthetic rubber tracks in schools across China during the summer break. Substandard running tracks — called “poisonous tracks” by the news media — are to be removed. Anyone who has cut corners in the construction of school sports facilities, the ministry said, will be “severely punished.’’ And it promised stricter oversight over the construction of such tracks.

A day earlier, CCTV, the state broadcaster, aired an investigative report that said manufacturers of running track rubber, many based in neighboring Hebei Province, used substandard materials and violated safety rules. The announcement also followed months of news reports from Beijing, Shanghai and several provinces about schoolchildren experiencing nosebleeds, skin rashes, dizziness and headaches after being exposed to the tracks.

“We were very angry when the problem was discovered,” said Wang Baoquan, a resident of Beijing who kept his 10-year-old daughter at home for four days this month as a health precaution. In a telephone interview, Mr. Wang said his daughter had not become sick, but many of her schoolmates had developed coughs, skin problems and nosebleeds.