Not just milk, toys and pet food, but toxic clothes.

August 19, 2007
Toxic clothes from China

Here's a good reason to wash new clothes before putting them on infants and children: A New Zealand television station is reporting that "scientists found formaldehyde in woollen and cotton clothes at 500 times higher than is safe."

The majority of the clothes tested were made in China.

Little is known about how chemicals in clothing can affect people. But concern over pesticides and chemicals in fabric has sparked consumer interest in organic baby clothes that can be purchased everywhere from small boutiques to Target.

Formaldehyde is used to give clothes a "permanent press" look. Exposure to it in concentrations of 20 parts per million (ppm) can cause eye, skin and nasal irritations, respiratory problems, asthma and cancer.

    "A variety of new children and adult clothes were tested, including a girl's top, school shorts, a Spiderman T-shirt, and pajamas. The results ranged from 230 ppm to 18,000 ppm,"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8j6QaYK0_o&feature=user