Toxic cancer-causing dyes found in China garments
By IANSFriday, July 30, 2010
BEIJING - Toxic dyes that can cause cancer have been detected in some garments in China, creating concern that buyers may also be exposed to health hazards.
Beijing’s municipal bureau of industry and commerce said in a latest quality test report that 65 clothing brands in the country have failed to meet quality standards, the Global Times reported.
Coats produced by a Beijing-based company were found to contain decomposable aromatic amine, a cancer-causing textile dye that was banned by authorities in 2006. The poisonous dye cannot be washed out of the fabric and is easily absorbed by human skin, which can cause cancer over long-term exposure, the China Textile News said.
Clothes manufactured by the company brings in annual sales of 50 million to 100 million yuan (($7.3-$14.7 million), the company’s website claimed.
One style of men’s short pants made by a Hong Kong-based company was also declared unqualified because the textile colour fades after washing.
A few other brands were found to contain excessive formaldehyde, which is harmful to human skin.
The municipal bureau of industry and commerce said it would force manufacturers to withdraw the unqualified clothes from stores.
Liu Jiaoyan, 22, a resident of Chaoyang district in Beijing, said she had never heard of any clothes containing poison.
“Wearing a T-shirt could lead to cancer? It sounds like nonsense. But since the authorities have found something, we’d better not wear such clothes any more,” she said.
