Cancer dye found in school uniforms

School uniforms made by a Shanghai company have been found to contain a banned cancer-causing dye, the city quality watchdog said yesterday.

This is despite the introduction of more stringent checks earlier this year, following a large-scale recall of uniforms containing carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes.

In a recent random check of 30 batches of school uniforms, clothing manufactured by Shanghai Guangming Garments Co Ltd was found to contain amine dyes.

Seven batches of school uniforms made by Shanghai producers failed the checks by the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

The six others that failed had problems fiber content issues and a high pH index, the bureau said yesterday.

Uniforms made by Shanghai Zunye, Shanghai Haopai and Shanghai Qizhi contained fewer fibers than listed.

A high pH index can lead to skin allergies and make people vulnerable to bacteria.

Schools that bought substandard uniforms have been asked to return them to the manufacturers, the bureau said.

It did not disclose the names of the schools involved.

All these student uniforms were made in August.

Shanghai established a dual check system for school uniforms after Shanghai Ouxia Clothing Co Ltd was found to have used banned carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes during checks early this year.

The system requires both the manufacturer and school to send samples for tests.

More than 20 schools were found to have bought the uniforms from Shanghai Ouxia.