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Toxic Imports Affect Everyone
by
Joshua Sanders on September 9, 2010 - 12:26pm
The subject of lead in toys imported from China has received plenty of media attention over the years. But dangerous imports from China are not limited to your child’s playpen. They can be found in your garage, your kitchen, your bathroom and in fact every room of your house.
In 2007, China recalled 450,000 tires after a fatal car accident occurred when one of the faulty tires popped. Approximately 295,000 sets of malfunctioning car fuses from China were recalled because they could cause damage to an automobile’s electrical system. Three years later and the risks still remain. On Thursday, Chery Automobile Co Ltd, the largest private automaker in China, initiated the recall of 3,200 vehicles due to a flawed design that could affect tire safety, the quality regulator General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its website Tuesday.
Over the counter drugs made in India and China that are not approved for human consumption make their way to U.S. store shelves every year. Experts say medicines from China and India pose the risk of being contaminated, counterfeit or simply under-strength and ineffective.
"As the manufacturing goes to China and India, the risk to human health is growing exponentially," said Brant Zell, past chairman of the Bulk Pharmaceuticals Task Force. The group represents American drug-ingredient makers who filed a citizen's petition with the FDA in 2006 asking the agency to oversee foreign firms more aggressively.
"The low level of follow-up inspections, combined with the huge amount of importing, greatly increases the potential that consumers will get products that have impurities or ineffective ingredients," Zell said.
In 2007, analysts estimated that as much as 20 percent of finished generic and over-the-counter drugs, and more than 40 percent of the active ingredients for pills made here, come from India and China. By 2022, they predict, as much as 80 percent of the key ingredients will come from those countries.
Drywall has also been added to the growing list of toxic imports from China. In May a report from the largest investigation in the history of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission cited 10 Chinese manufacturers as makers of sulfur-laden drywall used in the construction of thousands of homes in the United States between 2005 and 2009. Under hot and humid conditions, the drywall produces a corrosive, foul-smelling gas that, aside from causing damage to electrical wiring and fire alarms, causes wheezing, headaches and exacerbates asthma.
It seems no consumer product is safe. According to the
Associated Press, approximately 1.4 million “FIXIT One Million Candlepower” rechargeable spotlights, manufactured in China and imported by Innovage LLC of Foothill Ranch, California, were recalled Thursday because the adapter can overcharge the battery, causing it to leak acid. The company has received 13 reports of burns to skin, clothing, carpeting or upholstery. The spotlights were sold at Walgreens, Rite Aid, Bealls, Tuesday Morning, Ace Hardware, Boscov's and Winn-Dixie stores nationwide from October 2003 through October 2009.
Unfortunately, toxic imports consist of ingestible products as well. FDA inspectors have found prunes tinted with unsafe chemical dyes, frozen breaded shrimp preserved with cancer causing antibiotics, poisons in swordfish, catfish and shrimp farmed under the most unsanitary conditions and juices and fruits that could only be described by inspectors as ‘filthy.’ To make matter worse, the FDA only inspects about 1 percent of annual imports, so it is likely that thousands of other unsafe foods make it to store shelves every day.
From seafood to dog food, drywall to metals, and medication to toothpaste, the issuance of recalls seems to stream out of Health Departments and government officials, but there is no way they can catch all the toxic imports. American companies have been compelled to export jobs to China in return for goods laced with hazardous elements. Mattel, the main headline grabber regarding lead-based toy imports, faced extreme criticism and brand disapproval as a result of their inability or unwillingness to inspect their foreign manufacturing facilities. By outsourcing their workers and production, companies have sacrificed quality control and brand image. With outsourcing, nobody wins.
