2d5273a329786ed954101d5ef97ae2dd.jpg (Photo : tupian.hudong.com)
Children's clothes made in two separate Chinese towns have been reportedly found to contain high levels of harmful chemicals on Monday. Antimony, a chemical with toxic effects similar to arsenic, was found in 90 percent of clothing tested by an independent testing facility.
Greenpeace claims that its staff bought 85 separate articles of clothing produced in the towns of Zhili in Zhejiang province and Shishi in Fujian. Testing revealed that in addition to antimony, high levels of hormone disruptors and chemicals harmful to reproductive organs were found.
The discovery of toxic chemicals in children’s clothes is certain to be an issue for the ballooning population of China. The Greenpeace press release points out that one child is born every other second in China and unless these issues are addressed, the nation could face a severe public health crisis.
While the news of toxic children's clothing is certain to spell trouble for Chinese producers, it is not the first time Chinese manufacturers have been found to be producing less than safe products.
Fake cooking oil was revealed to have been sold internationally in October and chemically treated pork made to look like beef was discovered in September.
Furthermore, six children died and over 300,000 were left sick by baby formula contaminated with melamine in 2008. These are just a few of the numerous consumer safety incidents China has faced in recent years.
Greenpeace has been involved in East Asia since 1997 and has its main Asian office in Hong Kong. The organization has conducted investigations into everything from retreating glaciers in the Himalayas to toxic dumping in South China.
China has consulted and worked with the advocacy group before on a range of issues, and Chinese universities and Greenpeace East Asia have conducted joint studies assessing the health effects of growing pollution.
