Perfectly legal: Toxic cadmium, up to 91%, added to kids' jewelry as China gets lead out

[Dr.Phool]

Source: AP, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Perfectly legal: Toxic cadmium, up to 91%, added to kids' jewelry as China gets lead out
By Associated Press
January 10, 2010, 4:48PM


LOS ANGELES -- Barred from using lead in children's jewelry because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in sparkling charm bracelets and shiny pendants being sold throughout the United States, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The most contaminated piece analyzed in lab testing performed for the AP contained a startling 91 percent cadmium by weight. The cadmium content of other contaminated trinkets, all purchased at national and regional chains or franchises, tested at 89 percent, 86 percent and 84 percent by weight. The testing also showed that some items easily shed the heavy metal, raising additional concerns about the levels of exposure to children.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen. Like lead, it can hinder brain development in the very young, according to recent research.

Children don't have to swallow an item to be exposed — they can get persistent, low-level doses by regularly sucking or biting jewelry with a high cadmium content.

(snip)continued

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/01/perfectly_legal_toxic_cadmium.html

---

Just fucking disgusting. They're killing our kids, our dogs, us with this totally unregulated free trade.

[Odin2005]

1. 91 percent cadmium?!? OMFG!!!

This shit should be BANNED!!!

[saigon68]

2. Nope-- Never Happen

[wordpix]

51. "should be banned"---however, it's from China, our chief creditor, so won't be

Anything goes as long as China owns US

[Thor_MN]

77. Nevermind

[Jennicut]

3. My two girls, ages 4 and 5, probably have some of this jewelry in their toy room

I think I need to go look through some of it. Pretty scary stuff.

[Warpy]

5. it depends on how well they listen to you

If they'll respect the news that it's poison and they're not to suck on it, then they should be able to keep it. Little girls love to look all girly and pretty, especially in the preschool years. Ages 4 and 5 are old enough to get the news and respect it.

I wouldn't give kiddie jewelry to toddlers unless I knew the content for a fact. Everything goes into a toddler's mouth including cigarette butts and spiders. Ugh.

Just be aware you'll have to reinforce it from time to time. Kids forget.

[Jennicut]

11. True, they are definitely past that age of putting stuff in their mouth

But I am sure they have tons of jewelry and other toys made in China. It really puts you on edge.

[Geostudent]

28. Not putting it in your mouth is not good enough

Cadmium is not something to mess with. If you believe you have these, get rid of them now.

[Hekate]

16. "Respect the news that it's poison"?You'd put rat-bait around your kid's neck in a pretty container?

Eww. Would you wear this crap yourself? If it was attractively packaged as a grown-up item of jewelry? Seriously?

It no doubt absorbs through the skin as well ("some items easily shed the heavy metal"). Then there's the matter of putting fingers in mouths, and handling food items without washing hands, and...

Oy.

Hekate

[aquart]

18. No. THROW IT OUT.

Sucking is an unconscious, not a conscious action.

[Romulox]

67. Poor judgment. nt

[sui generis]

74. how would you ever know unless you tried?

In a taste comparison performed by yours truly at the age of three I tried a spider, a worm, a flower and a cigarette butt.

I found the spider to be somewhat peppery with a really bitter aftertaste, the worm tasted like throw up YUCK and it was gritty and it tasted bad for a long time after, the flower tasted okay, kind of like soap, and the cigarette butt didn't make it past two chomps before my stomach evacuated it from my mouth.

I also accidentally drank a cup of lighter fluid, followed immediately by a parent administered bottle of ipecac, which could explain a lot.

:P

[secondwind]

55. THROW IT ALL OUT...EVEN THE PLASTIC STUFF.. YOU CAN GET MORE.

[ronnie624]

79. Those little 'peace sign' bracelets are all the rage right now.

Practically every other girl you meet is wearing one.

[pundaint]

4. Yeah, but enough kids with cadmium jewelry can attenuate a run-away nuclear reaction

so they've got that going for them, which is nice.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. +a google more disgust

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Why be alarmed?

Environ Health Perspect. 2009 Dec;117(12):1847-52. Epub 2009 Aug 13.
Cadmium malignantly transforms normal human breast epithelial cells into a basal-like phenotype.

Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Tokar EJ, Diwan BA, Dill AL, Coppin JF, Waalkes MP.

Inorganic Carcinogenesis Section, Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute (NCI) at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer has recently been linked to cadmium exposure. Although not uniformly supported, it is hypothesized that cadmium acts as a metalloestrogenic carcinogen via the estrogen receptor (ER). Thus, we studied the effects of chronic exposure to cadmium on the normal human breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A, which is ER-negative but can convert to ER-positive during malignant transformation. METHODS: Cells were continuously exposed to low-level cadmium (2.5 muM) and checked in vitro and by xenograft study for signs of malignant transformation. Transformant cells were molecularly characterized by protein and transcript analysis of key genes in breast cancer. RESULTS: Over 40 weeks of cadmium exposure, cells showed increasing secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9, loss of contact inhibition, increased colony formation, and increasing invasion, all typical for cancer cells.

Inoculation of cadmium-treated cells into mice produced invasive, metastatic anaplastic carcinoma with myoepithelial components. These cadmium-transformed breast epithelial (CTBE) cells displayed characteristics of basal-like breast carcinoma, including ER-alpha negativity and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) negativity, reduced expression of BRCA1 (breast cancer susceptibility gene 1), and increased CK5 (cytokeratin 5) and p63 expression. CK5 and p63, both breast stem cell markers, were prominently overexpressed in CTBE cell mounds, indicative of persistent proliferation. CTBE cells showed global DNA hypomethylation and c-myc and k-ras overexpression, typical in aggressive breast cancers. CTBE cell xenograft tumors were also ER-alpha negative.

CONCLUSIONS: Cadmium malignantly transforms normal human breast epithelial cells-through a mechanism not requiring ER-alpha-into a basal-like cancer phenotype. Direct cadmium induction of a malignant phenotype in human breast epithelial cells strongly fortifies a potential role in breast cancer.

[TheWraith]

8. "Sucking or biting..."

I'd like to know the effects of it rubbing up against skin constantly.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. Something I found....

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/cadmium/cdcasestudy_pretest.html <--- More

Udated to add last paragraph.


A 60-year-old woman with low back pain and waddling gait.

A 60-year-old woman comes to your office with complaints of low back pain, which is causing progressive difficulty in walking. The pain has graduallyincreased since the onset of menopause five years ago. This discomfort is especially noticeable after prolonged sitting.

Social history reveals that the patient has been a housewife since her marriage 38 years ago. Her husband, who is in good health, owns and operates a small retail shop in their home. The patient has been making jewelry for sale in her husband's shop and as a hobby for about 35 years. They have two adult sons who are in good health.

The patient denies a personal or family history of kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular disease; she also denies history of back trauma or weight loss. She has smoked one to two packs of cigarettes a day for the past 40 years. She does not take estrogens, calcium supplements, vitamins, or other medications.


#

The information for this answer comes from section: “Where is Cadmium Found?”

# Risk factors are due to not only increased opportunity for cadmium exposure, but age and nutritional status as well. The patient's hobby, jewelry fabrication, may provide low to moderate chronic cadmium exposure. Lack of respiratory protection, poor ventilation, and poor hygiene in the work area increase the amount of her exposure. One of the major sources of cadmium exposure in smokers is inhaling cadmium from cigarette smoke. The amount of cadmium ingested from the vegetables grown in her garden is unknown, but sludge from wastewater treatment plants contains significant levels of cadmium. Factors that may enhance cadmium absorption from the gut are age and certain dietary deficiencies.

The information for this answer comes from section: “What Are Routes of Exposure to Cadmium?”

[madrchsod]

9. nice stuff and....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium_poisoning


it`s cheap!

[Divine Discontent]

12. don't anyone here even think about buying cheap plastic crap - tell your family & friends stop, too!

[Hekate]

13. Handling and playing with it should be a no-no too. So easy to put fingers in mouth or handle food

... without washing hands.

I'm sending this on to a few people who will hopefully send it on to a few more...

Hekate

[David Zephyr]

14. Cadmium is carcinogenic. We are a nation of wages slaves and consumer slaves now.

The Soylent Corporation was not as fictitious as it sounded all those decades ago.

[nc4bo]

15. Oh the insanity of it all!! I'm also curious about the 120 color eyeshadow kits

coming out of China. They're the hottest thing in makeup right now.

They come in brilliant colors - and when I say brilliant I mean BRILLIANT. I wonder what and how many poisonous chemicals lurk within the pretty colors? As far as testing is concerned, you can only go by the sellers word that these are safe.

Here's a perfect example:




Ladies KNOW where this stuff comes from but throw caution and all commonsense into the air when it comes to beauty.

:crazy: :scared:



Sorry to go OT.......

[XemaSab]

22. I wanted that vibrant Mexican yellow color for my kitchen

until I found out that it was lead chromate. :o

[depakid]

25. Ceramics can harbor some real beauties, too

The plate above "took its own picture" by just being placed on an envelop of x-ray film for five days. The plate's mark is shown below the x-ray



Below is the mark on the bottom of the old dinner plate. These have not been manufactured since prior to World War II, but many people still collect and use them. Most colors such as browns, blues, and greens, would have no need to contain uranium and are not likely radioactive.

[XemaSab]

34. I am eating my dinner on Fiesta ware

x(

[midnight armadillo]

43. Vaseline glass

Contains uranium - gives it a nice glow under UV light. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass

Hey, a little alpha particle dosing is good for you.

[Crowman1979]

71. No wonder the Romans went insane.

And the peasant class survived.

[wordpix]

62. could not see your pix---try again, pls

[nc4bo]

30. My grannie had a ton of those beautifully colored plates.

Ugh. The say ignorance is bliss but now that we're all better informed, what's our excuse now?

I reckon it can all be boiled down to plain old fashioned greed.

[wordpix]

52. anything about lip color? I bought a new lipstick & ever since, my lips

occasionally quiver. Think I'll throw that shit out.

[Hekate]

17. It makes me wonder what's in *any* of the metal items we purchase from China these days...

I bought some Wilton-Armitale platters a year or so ago -- very old, fine name, on sale, etc. I'd put off off buying them for years because they're pricey -- but the thing that tipped me over was that when I looked at the newer packages they all said "Made in China." Pulled them out, stamped on the back of the platter, "Made in China." Pulled some of the older, more beat-up boxes out of the stack, "Made in USA."

Done. Sold.

Shit.

Hekate

[nc4bo]

19. Horrible how times have changed.

And yet the stuff keeps coming here.

About those metal items - we lose silverware around my house like some folks lose socks. Well, we started buying the 4 for a dollar spoons and forks from the dollar stores.

The "metal" or whatever silvery stuff covering the silverware is wearing off leaving some white colored "metal" under it. I wonder what it is?

[Hekate]

20. I'd get rid of it if I were you, pronto. Every time we get one of these alerts, Dollar Store's name

... just sort of rises to the surface.

You could go to a thrift store and look for *old* flatware, and just look on the back of the handle to see where it was made, once upon a time. Japan or Korea would probably be fine -- when we used to get cheap goods from them, we still had some safety regs in place. You might even find some that were made in this country.

Hekate

[nc4bo]

21. Yea - that's probably the best thing to do. Will take you up on your trift store suggestion.

Can't believe I never thought of it, double d'uh!

Thanks :hi:

[Alcibiades]

73. You can get stainless flatware

that's made in the US.

http://www.silversuperstore.com/usa.html

A service for 4 is $70, and a service for 8 is $120. More expensive than the cheap stuff, for sure, but you'll have it basically forever. We've had a set of made in the USA stainless flatware for ten years, and it's as good as new.

[firehorse]

33. cheap flatware = base metal thats been plated

Usually base metals like brass, or white metal thats been plated. They are still really cheap.

I'm a jewelry designer, and I wouldn't totally freak out about the cadmium and think its everywhere. Base metals are still pretty cheap and is whats commonly used for flatware. In my house we've been taking to using chop sticks a lot lately too, from eating salads to oatmeal.

And if you are really worried about your jewelry, then wear silver or gold thats made local. A lot of chain comes from Italy, Bali, India and China. Small local designers don't usually do overseas manufacturing, its made in their studio and it the metal is stamped. Also, there are "green" designers who use only locally recycled eco friendly metals.

[OhioChick]

23. Disgusting. What is the US govt. going to do about this? n/t

[nc4bo]

32. What'd we get with the lead paint toys? Bunch of wrist slapping and a few recalls...

I really don't remember any real laws actually being changed because of it.

Pathetic.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[crim son]

26. It's totally not an issue.

The shrub took care of all problems w/poisonous Chinese imports during his eight year reign, dontcha know?

[Trajan]

50. From what I heard ...

Obama decided he would not stop your family specifically from enjoying Cadmium products ....

Eat hearty ....

[varelse]

27. There is no effective treatment for cadmium toxicity

http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/ConditionsAZ.aspx?ChunkID=120796

Avoid exposure. Your treatment will be designed to help manage and relieve your symptoms. You may be given vitamin D for the weak bones.

Who would gamble with a child's health, and possibly her life, for the sake of satisfying her desire for shiny trinkets?

The price is too high.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

48. But but but IT'S OKAY!!!

Cadmium, Lead and Mercury are all in the same column in the Periodic Table.
Therefore they have similar properties.

You wouldn't let your kid eat lead paint chips.

BUT BUT BUT the Mercury deniers on this board SWEAR that Mercury is JUST HUNKY DORY in fillings, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. There is NO SAFE LEVEL of Mercury exposure, just like with lead and cadmium.


:wtf:

[Quantess]

29. The workers in China are also getting exposed to the Cadmium, I assume.

Not as though they have a say in the matter.

[louis-t]

72. I recall a story about workers who were dying of cancer.

They hand-painted the luminescent dials on watches in the '60's and '70's (pre-digital). Turns out, they were licking the brushes to get a finer tip. Yuck!

[Quantess]

75. I saw someone in art class sucking on brush tips like that.

I distinctly remember "Cadmium Yellow" paint.

This was an acquaintance from 15 or so years ago. I wonder how she's feeling today.

[Hubert Flottz]

31. This just in from the Friends Of Cadmium...

"Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs"

Nothing else matters...this has been a message from you corporate masters at Friends Of Cadmium...that is all.(kind of like the message from the Friends Of Coal, or Bayer who is still making and storing tons of MIC at Institute West Virginia.

************************

Bayer cited for MIC tank violations

Snip...

For years, the Institute facility has been the only one in the nation to store large quantities of MIC onsite.

Last April, congressional investigators concluded the explosion could have easily damaged a nearby MIC storage tank and triggered a disaster that would have been worse than Bhopal. CSB officials described the incident as "potentially a serious near miss, the results of which might have been catastrophic for workers, responders and the public."

In late August, as the one-year anniversary of the deadly explosion in Institute neared, Bayer announced it was cutting its MIC storage by about 80 percent. After the changes, Bayer hopes to keep its daily maximum MIC inventory below 50,000 pounds -- still far more than any other chemical plant in the nation. Read more...

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201001090168

The Friends Of Cash, don't worry much about anything but their bottom line.

[Left Coast2020]

35. Shades of Erin Brockovich.

For some reason I am reminded of the discovery of Chromium in the drinking water that was a known cause of cancer by PG&E. Corporate bastards is all that needs to be said. We need another Erin Brockvich today.

[wordpix]

53. just thinking of where they're putting all the cadmium waste---China's not known for environmental

protection. They're worse than U.S.

[DeSwiss]

44. +1 n/t

[NewJeffCT]

36. What US companies are importing these items, though?

and, why are they not inspecting the items they import for quality? Given recent history with products imported from China, you would think the company would be on alert for dangerous items... even if it's more concerned about bad press than safety.

[wordpix]

54. Walmart & their ilk, probably---gotta make those Waltons richer somehow

[Hekate]

80. Look for these trinkets in drugstores, dollar stores, craft stores, party supply stores, grocery and

... "ethnic" stores (in my area that would be ones catering to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans: sundries and birthday party supplies, little kids' clothes, dinnerware -- and shiny metal and plastic "jewelry" for kids).

Once you know what to look for, you'll see it. Everywhere.

As for why they don't inspect -- we import unbelievably massive quantities of everything, it all comes in big shipping containers of which only 5% are even inspected for terrorist-type substances, it costs money to hire inspectors in the US, it costs money to reject even one shipment much less multiple shipments, it costs money to have a fully-trained reliable fully-bilingual and bi-cultural squad of inspectors in China -- and the US laws and regulations that we once relied on to protect us were rendered toothless by government deregulation, outsourcing, and the aforementioned corporate greed.

As for bad press: DUers are news junkies who can and do bypass the MSM. But in all the drumbeat over the latest missing blonde and the earth-shattering "relevance" of what Harry Reid said -- where is the desperately needed consumer-safety information that extends past the first few articles and lists of things to return to the store? The MSM is doing its usual awful job.

As mentioned by another poster, there are some US companies that take safety and quality seriously. They all should.

Hekate

[benld74]

37. WHO is buying it to sell? THEY need to SPECIFY EXACTLY what they want in their Contract

[Hekate]

41. Specify but also check thoroughly. It can be done, and kosher food suppliers DO CHECK....

They have at least one rabbi there who follows every ingredient to its source, and if he can't verify, it doesn't get used.

US manufacturers of other goods allow themselves to be stymied by any or all of the following: greed, sloth, culture, language, huge sprawling country. Chinese are not necessarily inclined to co-operate, and they will use all of those against us -- but they DO want to make the sale, and they CAN be made to co-operate.

The fact that we have gotten to this point is a testament to US corporate greed, mostly. As I see it.

Hekate

[Mopar151]

76. There are reputable US manufacturers and distributors

Who deal in Chinese goods. They find it necessary to have an engineer in their employ in the Tiwanese or Chinese factory, either on a regular basis, or full-time. Chinese businesses tend to cluster together by product - so even if the management of Wang Chung Stamping is on the up and up, the tooling can well go out the back door temporarily to Hung Lo Stamping, to stamp widgets out of dirty pot metal instead of the certified aluminium stock spec'd by US Widgets.
Often, the US companies will not order products complete or packaged, both to avoid being backdoored and to better monitor quality.

The products I am most familiar (SCAT racing engine parts, Prototrak milling machines) have a high percentage of US content, in labor, parts, or both.

Cadmium kids jewelry, I'd 86 ta-day! Adult stuff, I would'nt wear next to the skin, and I would glove up to work on it, and would avoid heating it like the plauge! And especially, avoid cigarette smoking while working with any metals of known toxicity - the metal goes from the hand, to the cigarette, where it becomes fumes from heat, and into the lungs it goes!

[NewJeffCT]

59. They can specify all they want...

if the specs are wrong/incorrect/not properly translated, it won't matter.

[scentopine]

38. Poisoning the workers and their families too - goddamn outsourcing -nt

[wordpix]

56. also poisoning the land, rivers and ocean

[scentopine]

78. a really good point -nt

[Brickbat]

39. I read the label of everything I buy, and if it says "Made in China," I ask myself if I really need

it. 19 out of 20 times, I don't, so I don't buy it. Who knows what's in that shit?

[gristy]

40. This is such an odd headline. If I've got a trinket that is 91% cadmium, the cadmium

wasn't "added" to the trinket. It was made out of cadmium! And in the article, the same thing: The most contaminated piece analyzed in lab testing performed for the AP contained a startling 91 percent cadmium by weight. .

Don't know how the word "contaminated" came to be seen as the right word here. It's made out of cadmium.

These semantic problems leave me questioning the validity of the whole article.

[Hekate]

42. Don't necessarily question the validity of the article: the author started with a word & kept using

... the same word ("contaminated") as he went along. I think most readers understand exactly what was meant.

Hekate

[onestepforward]

45. Why can't we make safe toys for kids here in America?

I'm sure that most parents would be willing to pay a little extra for nontoxic toys plus support American workers. Good grief.

[wordpix]

57. what? and create jobs here in AmeriKa when we can get junk from China?

Aw, c'mon, we don't want to do that :sarcasm:

[NewJeffCT]

60. The Chinese made toys are replacing toys

that were made in Taiwan 10 years ago, made in Singapore 20 years ago and made in Japan 30 years ago. I'm 43 and remember when I was a kid how everything was made in Japan.

[olegramps]

63. Do you remember this about stuff made in Japan:

Their stuff was so crappy that they renamed a city USA so that they could stamp that on their products.

[NewJeffCT]

64. No, I don't

but I remember if something broke quickly, we would always pick it up & look at the label and it was always "made in Japan"

[grahamhgreen]

46. The retailers, importers, and manufacturers need to be put out of business and jailed.

[Vidar]

47. Clearly, that would be the best solution.

[NewJeffCT]

61. Agreed - put a few high profile CEOs in jail

and shoddy products with lead or cadmium would be gone almost overnight.

[One_Life_To_Give]

49. Not exactly legal

I am sure California RoHS regs make it illegal and perhaps other states laws as well.

[secondwind]

58. WOW...I just went from this forum back to the Home page, and there is a post

about someone whose mom has just been diagnosed with colon cancer. "she worked in jewelry factories all her life"..?????

[olegramps]

65. Should the retailers be held responsible?

Maybe we should impose a fee on all retailers that import items in order to pretest them before they can be marketed. This could have a double effect of limiting imports and safeguarding our citizens.

[Romulox]

66. But Free Trade with China will make democratic activists meet us in the street with flowers!

Am I mixing my propaganda here?

[midnight armadillo]

68. This may make perfect sense.

Chinese manufacturers had to get rid of lead, but they had all this tooling and molds for making jewelry out of low melting point cheap-ass alloys. Lead melts at 625F, cadmium at 610F.

So they found a substitute that let them continue producing with minimal disruption. Perfectly rational...if friggin' evil.

[Vinnie From Indy]

69. Thanks Wal-Mart!

I wonder if the mushrooms I saw on the shelf the other day from China are marinated in DDT.

[stuart68]

70. Good thing

we have the EPA chasing that dreaded carbon - wouldn;t want them focusing on Cadmium now would we.