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NEW ZEALAND: China clothes imports cleared officially

WELLINGTON: The New Zealand Retailers Association (NRA) has said that the tests that showed excessive levels of the chemical formaldehyde in children's clothes imported from China were flawed and have put New Zealand's reputation at risk.

The consumer watchdog program “Target” had earlier tested Chinese-made woolen and cotton clothing and found levels of formaldehyde up to 900 times the safety limit set by the World Health Organization. New Zealand immediately launched an investigation into Chinese and other garment imports after the program reported finding dangerous levels of formaldehyde concentrations in the clothes.

Formaldehyde is a chemical preservative that gives a permanent press effect to clothes and is also used as an embalming fluid. It can cause problems ranging from skin rashes to cancer.

But NRA’s chief executive John Albertson said fresh tests conducted by AgResearch in New Zealand, the SGS Textile testing center in Shanghai and Intertek in Hong Kong all confirmed that formaldehyde was not at dangerous levels in tested garments. The clothes sold in New Zealand are within international standards for levels of formaldehyde and that claims made on TV3's 'Target' show are quite simply false, he said.

Scientists tell us that the testing process used by the 'Target' show is flawed because it is not based on accepted international standards. Put simply, they applied the wrong test, he said. Rather than testing for the internationally accepted formaldehyde levels, Target tested for total formaldehyde, giving a misleading result, Albertson said.

Free formaldehyde tests the quantity of chemical which can escape from the fabric and cause an irritation. Target's claims that formaldehyde levels exceeded international standards, were simply not the case, he said.
Target executive producer Laurie Clarke said he does not believe the program undertook the wrong testing. At the time we acted on the advice of our laboratory, he said.

New Zealand currently has no formal standards for formaldehyde levels in clothing. Alarm over the quality of the clothes was triggered after two children in New Zealand were reportedly injured when their sleepwear caught fire last month.

Source: Agencies • News Courtesy: BharatTextile.com