CADMIUM : Factory pollution in China leads to 2 deaths + 509 people intoxicated

Early august, 2 people died and 509 have been intoxicated following a leak of CADMIUM in Xianghe Chemical Factory, a Zinc Sulfate factory in the Hunan province (Central China).

Cadmium, a heavy metal, is forbidden to be used for manufacturing toys for children.

Toys ``R'' Us Toughening Safety Standards

TOYS'R US will soon have stricter safety standards for the products it sells in its more than 1,500 stores. Starting March 1, the Wayne-based toy retailer is setting a much tighter standard for the amount of lead allowed in toys made just for the chain.

It's also barring two chemicals that have raised safety concerns in products for infants and young children.

By the end of the year, there also won't be nickel-cadmium batteries in Toys ''R'' Us products -- a move meant to help the environment.

The company says the changes should meet or exceed new federal standards expected from Congress.

Source : AP

Chinese workers are sick of making toxic cadmium batteries

Over the holidays, millions of American children received Chinese-made toys powered by cadmium batteries. Cadmium batteries are safe to use. They are also cheap, saving American parents about $1.50 on the average toy, compared with pricier batteries, but cadmium batteries can be hazardous to make as workers inhale the toxic red cadmium dust that filled the air in the plant.

As the U.S. and other Western nations tightened their regulation of cadmium, production of nickel-cadmium batteries moved to less-developed countries, most of it eventually winding up in China.

In America, five years after Hasbro stopped using nickel-cadmium batteries, Mattel and Toys "R" Us are yet to follow suit, but say they are exploring alternatives. Wal-Mart no longer purchases cadmium batteries from GP Batteries but declined to comment on whether it still uses them in its products.

Mattel says cadmium batteries have some performance advantages over alternatives, such as a better ability to retain a charge when not used for long periods.

Only this year, the European Union is banning the sale of nearly all cadmium batteries.

In China, government standards on cadmium exposure are in line with those endorsed by the World Health Organization. And without question, there are safe cadmium plants in China.

But having rules and enforcing them are two different things.

Source : The Wall Street Journal Asia