By CLARA CARTRETTE
News editor

Russian dictator Nikita Khrushchev used to brag that he would one day take over the United States without firing a shot. He failed, but China seems to be working on it.

When will the United States start checking imports from China for toxins and other hazards before they are shipped here?

Why are we allowing toxic pet food, human food, toothpaste and lead-based toys to be sold to unsuspecting Americans?

Surely someone is smart enough to work out a system to check they before they come into the United States.

Furthermore, we should be checking the safety of goods made anywhere, including the USA, before they’re put on the market. A moderately smart fourth grader can look at a toy or garment and tell you that buttons may be hazardous to a toddler’s health.

Hardly a week passes that we don’t read or hear about another recall of goods from China. Millions of China-made toys were recalled in this country recently because they were tainted with lead-based paint or otherwise were hazardous to children. Mattel Inc. recalled about 19 billion toys worldwide.

It must have been traumatic for toddlers when their favorite toys were snatched from them. Older kids couldn’t understand why their Barbie dolls and Batman action figures had to be thrown out. They’re too young to understand such things as lead paint. Children can suffer brain damage if they ingest lead-based paint.

Where did those tainted toys go? Into our landfills, no doubt, creating still another hazard.

Did parents get reimbursed for the toys? Probably not, although some stores are giving refunds or credit for toys on the “tainted” list.

It is recommended that children be tested for lead if they’ve been playing with lead-based painted toys, but who’s paying for that? A national news report last week stated that court suits have been filed against Mattel to pay for those tests. I hope the toy company loses.

It has been reported that toothpaste made in China, some of it for juniors — meaning children — contains diethelene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze. It was not listed as an ingredient on toothpaste, but tests revealed that it was an ingredient. Therefore, we have to believe this was a poisoning cover-up. Some reports say the chemical was used as a cheaper sweetener and a base. Research revealed that in previous years, in other countries, people died from ingesting pharmaceuticals, including cough syrup, that contained diethelene glycol.

Recalled snack foods were feared to be contaminated with salmonella, which was traced to seasoning that was manufactured in — you guessed it — China. What makes matters worse is the typical response regarding defective products coming out of China. A commerce ministry spokesman said, “It can be said that the quality of China’s exports all are guaranteed.”

It concerns me that you can’t go shopping without buying something imported from China. Have you checked clothing labels lately? Just about every garment has a “Made in China” label.

I was about to write that I’m worried the very fibers of our clothing may be poisoned when I decided to do a little research. Sure enough, some of China’s exported clothing IS toxic. It has been reported that New Zealand launched an investigation after children’s clothes imported from China were found to contain dangerously high levels of a potentially cancer-causing chemical that gives clothes a permanent-press effect.

Have we launched an investigation to see if that quality merchandise is being sold in American stores? Or will we figure it out 10, 15, 25 years down the road when our people are suffering cancer or some other malady?

Pet foods contained toxins. So did seafood. I reached for a bag of frozen shrimp in the grocery recently but put it back when I didn’t see “Packaged in the USA” on the bag. I don’t buy a can or package of anything lately that I don’t read where it was processed. If I can’t determine the origin, I don’t buy it.

But it’s not easy to find things made and processed in the USA. Practically everything comes from China, or other Asian countries. I was in a store that specializes in kitchen, bath and other home goods at the beach two weeks ago and spent 30 minutes picking up items just to see where they came from. I found a total of two items made in the USA — one from Arizona and I can’t remember where the other one came from. I found towels and a few other fabric items from India, but everything else came from China — pots, dishes, kitchen gadgets, baskets, and such all had Made in China labels. If they’re using lead-based paints on toys, might they be using lead-based products for dishes and such?

It appears that Canada is getting aggressive in checking imports for toxins and other hazards, and the
result is that Chinese-made consumer goods have been subject to more safety recalls than products from any other country, four times more than second place USA. The scary part is, it could not be determined where the products were manufactured 45 percent of the time. When it could be determined, 61.2 percent were from China.

The director of the China Institute at the University of Canada said the problem is that China’s government is simply unable to monitor safety standards the way richer countries do. Then why are we risking the health of our country by doing business with them?

It makes me wonder if some of our health problems are generated by toxic products. Nobody has been able to explain why autism is more prevalent now than ever. It is nearly an epidemic, with one of every 165 children affected. There are 1.7 million people with autism in this country and 24,000 more will be diagnosed this year. There are few answers about what causes multiple sclerosis and 200 new cases are diagnosed every week. Why are allergies so rampant now? The list goes on.
Is there a correlation to toxic consumer products? Will we ever know? Why are we taking such risks with our country’s health?

Let’s hold countries we do business with more accountable for what they ship to the USA.