About two out of five plastic shoes contain potentially harmful levels of plasticizer chemicals exceeding the legal safety limit, a joint investigation by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection and the Consumers’ Foundation found.
Shoes made with plastic or other synthetic materials typically come in a range of different types of footwear, such as slippers, sandals, beach shoes, rain boots and children’s shoes. Many are worn without socks and therefore pose a higher health risk if the shoes contain harmful chemicals that can easily enter the body through one’s feet, the foundation said yesterday.
A joint effort by the bureau and the foundation in August and September included spot checks on 30 types of plastic footwear commonly sold at hypermarkets, chain shoe stores, department stores and on the Internet. The retail price of the samples ranged from NT$49 beach shoes to NT$1,386 brand-name slippers.
The tests showed that of 30 types of plastic footwear sampled, 11 contained plasticizer chemicals made with phthalates at amounts exceeding the maximum legal limit of 0.1 percent. One type of outdoor slipper, called ChengJeen and manufactured in China, contained as much as 34.9 percent plasticizer chemicals. Another type of bathroom slippers bearing the Workinghouse brand and manufactured in Taiwan was also found to contain plasticizer chemicals at amounts exceeding 31 percent.
Manufacturers in violation of regulations have been ordered to recall the products and retailers told to take the products off the shelves, the bureau said. Businesses that fail to comply are subject to fines of between NT$60,000 (US$2,065) and NT$1.5 million.
Plasticizers, or phthalate esters, contain chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors. The substances can potentially damage the liver and kidneys, causing men to develop female traits and increasing the risk of breast cancer in women, foundation chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said.
The foundation said it was important to ensure that house pets and children did not chew on or play with plastic shoes because this increased the risk of ingesting harmful chemicals.
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