Chinas Toxic Toys

Most people had never heard of Zhang Shuhong until he hanged himself. One of legions of equally faceless sub-contractors in Chinese manufacturing, he owned part of a factory that made dolls for Mattel, the US toy giant. On the day he killed himself, Mattel had recalled 436,000 toys – some of them from Shuhong’s factory – that had been coated in poisonous paint, and a further 18 million that contained tiny magnets that could be deadly if swallowed. It was the second such recall in a month, and it made the doomed Shuhong one of China’s most famous businessmen, and the embodiment of all the world’s misgivings about what comes out of its factories.

2007 was an embarrassing year for Chinese exports. Dogs have been keeling over after eating melamine-laced pet food. In Panama 100 people died from drinking cough syrup containing antifreeze, which was also found in toothpaste in Spain. In America there is talk of regulating all Chinese imports – American families should not have to play Chinese roulette, as Senator Dick Durbin put it – but that would be a mammoth task: 40% of US consumer goods come from China.

It’s not just America: 80% of the world’s toys are now made in China, most of them in the Pearl River Delta – a vast, smog-choked landscape of factory compounds. The workers are mainly women from rural areas – part of the biggest movement of people in human history. They live in concrete dormitory blocks with chicken wire windows, share a room with up to 22 people and work 15-hour shifts, seven days a week. The profit margins for toys are tiny – of the $9.99 retail price of a Chinese-made Barbie doll, only 35 cents goes to the producer – and with children giving up toys ever younger, the market is increasingly squeezed. Inevitably, conditions are terrible and corners are cut. Lead paint, for instance, is poisonous but cheap (it can be recycled from old computers), and gives a glossy sheen. Western greed is as much to blame for all this as Chinese ruthlessness. We consumers need to wake up: you cannot have ultra-cheap products and a clear conscience.

So what can be concluded from this? If there was to be a threat to Chinas authoritarian form of export-led growth – capitalism with a dictatorial face – they assumed it would come from dissident pro-democracy or international human rights groups. Now they find the real danger lies in children’s toys. By linking China’s future to the high street shoppers, unlike protest groups, don’t have to mobilise to effect change: they just have to stop buying. And when their children’s health is at risk, that’s what they do. So it comes to pass that the agent for revolutionary change in China is that least regarded of species: the consumer.

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Comments

By Shaun Sayers on January 4th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

The risk exists and it is well known. Any company that skimps on its incoming goods checks from China deserves all it gets you might argue

By Roy UT Real Estate on September 3rd, 2009 at 7:59 pm

This problem hasn't ended yet, there's a fresh concern in China regarding a factory near any residential area and there children are getting sick because of some chemicals, I am not sure but I've read it in a news few days ago. I agree we're to blame as well since we need high-quality for cheap price. That becomes all too difficult for everyone to survive. But I think standards has to be maintained, because for few margins or competition you cannot risk the lives of many and ultimately losing your company's reputation as well leading to zero sales! So be wise and maintain quality. Customers will pay you if you prove them that you've got the best quality material.