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Rudolph the Cadmium-Nosed Reindeer
theodp writes "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 US, an AP investigation shows. Charms from 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' bracelets were measured at between 82 and 91 percent cadmium, and leached so much cadmium that they would have to be specially handled and disposed of under US environmental law if they were waste from manufacturing. Cadmium, a known carcinogen, can hinder brain development in the very young. 'There's nothing positive that you can say about this metal. It's a poison,' said the CDC's Bruce Fowler. On the CDC's priority list of 275 most hazardous substances in the environment, cadmium ranks No. 7. Jewelry industry veterans in China say cadmium has been used in domestic products there for years. Hey, at least it doesn't metabolize into GHB when the little tykes ingest it."
WTF? So your dumbass logic is that Walmart wants to kill their customers and we need you, the courageous regulator to stop the murderous Walmart from going through with their evil plans!
1. The crap is made in Communist China, in a government factory.
2. GOVERNMENT agents failed to inspect it when it entered the country.
3. A private enterprise (Associated Press) discovered the dangerous toys...without government telling them how to do it.
It seems to me that in every instance Government failed and private enteprise, on its own, succeeded.
That's a problem. I was reading somewhere (sorry, don't recall where... it was a news article months ago) about how the majority of all US peanut butter brands are filled with peanuts from China. Apparently they control the majority of the market.
Just imagine the things leaching into their soil over there...
ugh.
Buy this peanut butter instead. The nuts come from Virginia and the only other ingredient is salt. Compare to the weird sludge called peanut butter in most supermarkets (Jif, etc.). Better yet, buy a jar of each and do a taste test. You won't ever go back.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
So we've got a substance dangerous to kids in just the kind of jewelry they can afford on their allowance.
This stuff is absolutely something that needs regulation to control it. Sometimes "letting the market decide" just rolls off the bowling lane and into the gutter. No, knocking down pins in somebody else's lane doesn't count. That's why they put the gutter in.
Civil law can help to keep such companies in check without the government getting involved directly. If people get sick, they sue, and the company goes out of business (and/or the owner is held financially accountable personally). If they're in China and can't be sued for whatever reason, people as a whole start to begin to become more and more skeptical of all products from that country as they can't be held accountable. Net result: more people buy domestic. MindlessAutomata also has some good suggestions below in regards to private safety certification entities.
Also consider that most libertarians don't advocate the dissolution of law entirely. Selling cadnium bracelets, knowing the dangers and without informing customers, could be seen as reckless endangerment and so forth.
Worker's rights? Bullshit. Nobody is forced into a factory at the barrel of a gun, they go to work there to improve their economic independence. Yes, it is dirty and dangerous, but they have the right to choose for themselves whether they take that risk or not. You would rather make a Chinese factory worthless, letting potential workers carry on scrabbling through rubbish heaps for a living.
[FUCK BETA]
This stuff is absolutely something that needs regulation to control it.
It already is. It failed miserably.
People should refuse to buy cheap jewelry that doesn't have a 3rd-party testing stamp attached to it. Even $1 jewelry wouldn't need to increase in price more than 5% or so.
Then all you have to do is educate, which is much easier than trying to perfectly regulate because you create millions of micro-regulators you can't otherwise afford.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
It did come with a warning label:
Made in China