Toxic Metal In Kids Jewelry From China

Barred from using lead in childrens jewelry, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in charm bracelets and pendants being sold throughout the United States.

The most contaminated piece analyzed contained a startling 91 percent cadmium. The cadmium content of other contaminated items, all purchased at national and regional chains, tested at 89 percent, 86 percent and 84 percent by weight. The testing also showed that some items easily shed the cadmium, raising additional concerns about the levels of exposure to children. Cadmium is by far more dangerous than lead!!

Since China is not a trustworthy trading partner, I do not buy anything made in China. Even Chinese sea food has been contaminated! ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO BUY ITEMS MANUFACTURED IN NORTH AMERICA!!

Slàinte,    

Patch    

How terrible, I do believe they(china) is trying to do their best to get rid of us any way they can. It's really hard to find clothes made here in the USA. I used to always buy Levi's, that brand was as American as apple pie, but not anymore!!! Which really makes me sad and mad! It's all about these companies going for cheaper labor! I hate to think what's in our dinnerware that comes from China!

I sent this to those in my address book and just got mail back from a lady in PA who is retired and makes jewelry, some from Chinese materials. She is going to check to insure she is not using any contaminated materials.

It is tough to find things that do not come from China. When I found they were using melamine in food they fed shrimp and lobsters in their sea food farms I got two grocery stores to drop the product. Wall Mart still sells it though. Had we not gotten so involved with China we would be much better off!

My youngest grand daughter got her ears pierced in Nov. and for her birthday and Christmas she got a lot of ear rings. I am betting they are Chinese and if they have to be pitched I will have to replace them even though I did not get those for her. She will not understand. The next oldest has a charm bracelet with about 15 charms that I know is Chinese as I put the charms on it for her.

Slàinte,    

Patch    

Wall Mart just announced they are pulling all of the contaminated jewelry off their shelves. Hopefully others will follow suit and quickly!

Slàinte,    

Patch    

Wow, we were going to post something about this, but I see the eagle eyed smart people of Celtic Radio are all ready raising the alert on this one!

Here is another link to a disturbing article on China products:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34807662/ns/he..._and_parenting/

I would highly recommend to everyone that they closely exam any child products they purchase that are made in China or for that matter, any products at all from China.

I for one am angered that you can not go into a Dollar Store, Walmart, BJ's or for that matter any department store and find it loaded with crap from China. Not sure who decided that all of our products should come from China, but I for one would like to buy only products made in the U.S.

Besides, we are sending over to China all of our production facilities and jobs. Heck, there are poor inner city kids in our own Country that would love for a plant to open up so they can make some money. For that matter blue collared workers.

There is no God given reason why we should continue to accept our country being drained of jobs and skills to support other countries that we have helped out with aid and donations for 50 years.

Next time you are in a department store, simply go down the aisle and pick up products and see where they are made. You will be shocked!

When Walmart first came into Canada, people were up in arms. They were scared that jobs would be lost due to 'American' made items flooding our market. Canadians were assured that a Canadian made would be found throughout the store. The flyers were filled with "made in Canada" symbols for the first few years but those started to become fewer and fewer. Give me Canadian made, American made, Australian made or anything made in a country where workers are paid fairly and industrial standards and safety is met. I believe in free market and competition but you cannot compete fairly in a market where people are basically enslaved, rights barely exist and safety and quality are just trivial matters.

We pulled all of my daughters jewelry that was given to her as gifts, during the first wave of lead laced jewelry. She now wears jewelry we make her or jewelry that she knows was manufactured in countries with fair and safe practices.

I, too, always wore Levi's. I just recently got fed up with paying the inflated price on what became a very cheap product. I just found jeans which are less than half the price, the same cut and made right here in Canada. Goodbye Levi's.

I enjoy Edamame (soybeans) and picked up a bag of frozen the other day. I was really surprised that it was a product of China. I wondered what happens to our soybeans and came across this article.

11.24.09

China Drives Global Soybean Demand

By John Baize


A lot has been said about the impact China has had on the global economy since it opened up to foreign investment and capitalism in the early 1990s. However, until one looks at the numbers, it is virtually impossible to gain a true grasp of how much it has impacted our world. In particular, China has been by far the most important factor impacting global demand for soybeans.

Today China is a global economic powerhouse with of population of over 1.3 billion. That’s about one-fifth of the world’s population in a country with 40 percent less arable land per capita than the global average. Moreover, its arable land is shrinking fast as China builds more factories, houses, highways and other infrastructure. All the while the Chinese want, and can increasingly afford, better diets with more animal protein. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts China will produce 48.5 million metric tons (mmt) of pork in 2009. That’s 48.4 percent of global pork production. China also produces about 35 percent of the world’s eggs and is the world’s second-largest broiler meat producer after the United States. China also leads the world in farm-raised-fish production, producing 10 times that of India, the second-largest aquaculture producer.

All of that demand for animal protein in China has created a huge demand for soybean meal. Soybeans are believed to have originated in China, and China is the world’s fourth-largest producer of soybeans. However, China’s demand for soybean meal for feed and soybean oil for food surpassed its domestic production beginning in the 1990s. The last time China was self-sufficient in soybeans was in the 1994/95 marketing year. However, only 15 years later China has evolved into by far the world’s largest importer of soybeans as well as the world’s largest importer of soybean oil. The USDA forecasts China will import 1.48 billion bushels of soybeans and 5.3 billion pounds of soybean oil in the 2009/10 marketing year. That equals about 52 percent of all of the soybeans expected to be imported by all nations during the marketing year.

U.S. soybean farmers saw the potential demand for soybeans in China long ago. U.S. soybean farmers, largely through checkoff dollars, joined with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in 1982 to open an office in Beijing to promote demand for U.S. soybeans. The office works to educate the Chinese how to use soybean meal to better feed pigs, chickens, fish and other animals. Partly because of the promotional efforts, China is today the largest market for U.S. soybeans by a wide margin. In the 2008/09 marketing year, U.S. soybean exports to China exceeded 683 million bushels, or over 53 percent of total U.S. exports of unprocessed soybeans. That means that almost one row in four of the soybeans grown in the United States in 2008 wound up in China. The exports of soybeans to China were worth a record $7.15 billion.

In spite of the success the U.S. has had in developing and supplying the Chinese soybean market, the soybean checkoff continues to fund an aggressive effort in China to build the market even larger. Staff and consultants of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the USB international marketing contractor, continue to work to increase soybean demand in China. I am writing this from Shanghai, China participating in USSEC’s annual trip to China to educate buyers about the quality of the 2009 crop. By analyzing data from soybean samples submitted by U.S. farmers, USSEC can tell buyers the protein and oil content of U.S. soybeans all across the country. It is partly because of such technical assistance and trade servicing funded by checkoff dollars that China’s importers buy so many U.S. soybeans.

There is no reason to believe China’s seemingly insatiable demand for soybeans will not continue in the future. The Chinese economy already has largely recovered from the global recession mostly as a result of greater domestic demand. Hundreds of millions of mostly rural Chinese have yet to benefit much from China’s surging economy, but they undoubtedly will in the future. This will cause demand for animal protein to continue to increase. Because of competing demand for its farmland, China will not be able to increase its soybean production appreciably. For that reason, China will have to increase its imports of soybeans to meet its domestic demand for soybean meal and soybean oil. This should help assure U.S. farmers of a market for their soybeans in the future.


posted by Expert 8:47 am

With the growth of America we are losing agricultural land. Will we be in the same shape as China - depending on imported food? Should we use protected park land to produce more food for the American people? I love the parks but I love my children and grandchildren more. I would like to ensure noncontaminated food for them. What do you think?

Flora

I and my whole family buy only American. The little ones are taught as
soon as they start helping at the store to look for the flag, USA, or America.
It might cost a few pennies more, but my family is worth it...

I agree with every point you made. China is not competing with us on an equal basis and until we say "no more" with our purchasing habits we will never recover.

I have never been a "protectionist" but I have come to believe that if we do not restrict "free trade" to our allies. jobs will never return to America. Our industry will always opt for cheap labor and obscene profits over the future of America. High tariffs would force them to return or make it profitable for other companies to start production and employ people here again.

That should start some discussion!

Slàinte,    

Patch