Following a recent round of footwear inspections, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection yesterday said 48 percent of children’s footwear on the market contains excess amounts of phthalate plasticizers.
Phthalate plasticizers are chemical substances used to soften rubber or other materials, making them more flexible and fluid. It is also a known endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), which can cause males to develop more feminine traits and increases the risk of females developing breast cancer.
Chinese National Standards (CNS) regulations say that total levels of EDC should not exceed 0.1 percent in plastic shoes.
Among the 21 pairs of children’s shoes inspected by the bureau ahead of Children’s Day on Monday, it found only 11 pairs passed the EDC levels test.
Excess levels of EDC were found in the remaining 11 pairs, ranging from 5.8 percent to 42.2 percent, or 422 times the CNS standard.
According to bureau deputy director-general Huang Lai-ho (黃來和), EDCs may easily be absorbed into the human body if the children do not wear socks, or if ECDs come into contact with human skin to which frost-bite cream has been applied.
All models examined by the bureau found to contain excessive levels of EDCs have been ordered off the shelves immediately, according to bureau officials.
The bureau also said it found that 1,326 items out of the 92,266 items examined did not meet labeling standards in accordance with the Commodity Labeling Act (商品標示法).
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