4 Ridiculous New Health Threats in China

4 Ridiculous New Health Threats in China
Feb 21, 2013 By Owain Lloyd-Williams , eChinacities.com

Well, it's been a fair few months since we've posted an article about the many health threats present in China, so we thought we'd keep you up to speed and share some brand-spanking new threats that have been in the news recently. Don't worry, there's nothing about gutter oil or fake eggs. There are no rants about how bad the pollution is or preachings of how you should be stocking up on facemasks. There's nothing on how eating barbecued street meat will cause your body to turn itself inside out or make you grow a third arm. No, we're going to take a break from all the normal “fear mongering” stuff and look at some of the most ridiculous new health threats in China that push the boundaries of human imagination.

1) Toxic woks
At this point, we all know that food safety is a huge issue in China. For many expats here, besides avoiding street stalls and seedy looking hole-in-the-wall restaurants, cooking at home is a major way we try to minimize such risks. Oftentimes, this is as simple as inspecting and washing produce several times over and spraying our kitchens with enough disinfectant to sink a ship. With all of this extra effort spent to avoid putting dangerous chemicals in our bodies, what could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, even some pans and woks aren't safe in China. According to a CCTV investigative report in January 2013, small workshops across Jiangxi Province were caught using old iron drums that previously held toxic chemicals to forge inexpensive frying pans and woks. The rusty, disused drums were said to have contained chemicals such as arsenic, lead, hydrochloric acid, cadmium, and the unpronounceable trichloroethylene. After treating the drums with fire and different acid baths to “remove” these chemicals, factory workers need only a few short minutes to cut and forge brand-new looking cookware ready for home use. The report estimates that several hundreds of thousands of these woks and pans have already been sold at local wet markets across the country for 10-20 RMB each. Perhaps that cheap new pan you picked up wasn't such a good deal after all!

2) Thermal receipt paper
First things first, this one's not exclusive to China, but we think it's ridiculous and worth noting nonetheless. A few years back, Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in plastics, caused quite a commotion when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned of its possible hazards to fetuses, infants and young children (disrupting hormone activity; increased risk of breast and prostate cancer etc.), causing enough concern to lead Canada, the US, Europe and even China to ban its use in the production of baby bottles. BPA was also commonly found in items such as thermal receipt paper—consequent studies suggested that by simply touching a receipt for several seconds you'd absorb about 2.5 micrograms of this potentially toxic chemical. Soon after the ban and all of the negative press, “BPA free” items began showing up—the industry largely replaced it with the compound Bisphenol S (BPS), which it claimed was a safe alternative. In July 2012, ACS' journal Environmental Science and Technology published survey data showing widespread exposure to BPS in the U.S., Japan and China among others. According to the report, BPS was present in all of the thermal receipt paper, 87% of the paper currency and 52% of the recycled paper that were tested. Moreover, in a January 2013 report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers at a university in Texas found that BPS shared similar problems with it's predecessor, even at low levels of exposure (like briefly touching a receipt). So wherever you are in the world, next time a cashier hands you a receipt, you might consider respectfully declining and making mental note of how much you spent instead.

3) Fake Shark Fin
As it turns out, even Chinese with extravagant tastes are at risk! An episode of the television program CCTV Focus (中国中央电视台共同关注) which aired in January 2013 revealed that as much as 40% of the “fins” found in the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup were artificially made. According to the program's investigative reporters, the often “faked” delicacy was found to be made from a thin yellow noodle-like substance (mostly mung bean starch and gelatin) and often contained arsenic, calcium chloride, and hydrogen peroxide. Upon being heated and cooked in a broth, the substance softens before it is served under the guise of real shark fin soup at many-a-fancy banquets and hotels across the country. According to the report, repeated intake of these chemicals can cause kidney failure and damage to the digestive system. So if the exorbitant price and/or international controversy over the main ingredient weren't enough to keep you away from this delicacy, maybe the knowledge that you're very likely eating mung beans and damaging your health will!

4) Yunnan Baiyao
Ah Yunnan. Whenever we think of the “cloudy south” our mind conjures up images of lush hills that roll up to the Himalayas, idyllic sunsets that cause the water in the rice paddies to glisten in the sunlight, and of course one of their most famous products, Yunnan Baiyao (云南白药). This internationally famous Traditional Chinese Medicine, known for its mystical healing powers has become the latest item to be struck off the ever-shrinking “things in China that are healthy” list after the state-owned company, Yunnan Baiyao Group, admitted to using undeclared aconitine alkaloids in its formula. Despite several dozen cases of allergic reaction to the product documented in the Mainland since 2010, the company has apparently refused to list all of its ingredients on the label in order to protect its recipe, which it claims is a “trade secret”. However, on January 17, 2012, a customer in Hong Kong sued the company after discovering that its product contained aconitine. On February 5, 2013, the Department of Health in Hong Kong recalled five of the company's baiyao products from shelves and issued a statement saying that if these alkaloids are used improperly, they can “cause discomfort, such as numbness in the mouth and limbs, nausea, vomiting and peripheral weakness, and even lead to life threatening conditions such as breathing difficulties and cardiac arrhythmia" (China Daily). Despite the claims made by the health authorities in Hong Kong, the medicine has not as of yet been recalled on the mainland.
 

Related Links
Wolf in Sheep's Skin: Fake and Contaminated Foods in China
Food Safety and Consumer Democracy: A Phenomenon on the Rise in China
Waiting to Exhale: Guide to Buying Face Masks in China

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Keywords: health threats in China

1 Comments

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bill8899

I'll try to avoid the fake shark fins?!?!?

Jan 25, 2014 13:19 Report Abuse