The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has asked several retailers to recall over 50,000 clothing and bed linen over a cancer-causing dye used in the items.
Australian retailers including Myer, Target, Just Jeans, Rivers and Trade Secret were asked to recall over 50,000 clothing and bed linen after an ACCC investigation discovered the use of a cancer-causing dye in the products.
According to The Guardian, the national industrial chemicals notification and assessment scheme (NICNAS) has requested the investigation. Chemical testing found high levels of a hazardous type of azo dye in the recalled products. This dye generally breaks down into a carcinogenic substance that is absorbed into the skin, causing cancer. ACCC also warned of more possible recalls in the coming weeks. All companies complied immediately to the recall.
"Target Australia is initiating this action as it does not meet Target Australia strict quality assurance standards," the company's recall notice said. "Whilst this dye stuff is not banned for textile use in Australia, expert authorities classify these azo-colorants as carcinogens. Exposure to these chemicals should be minimized."
Amid all this, University of New South Wales researchers downplayed the recall, saying that the cancer risk was very low.
"I believe people should have no concern whatsoever," UNSW Professor Bernard Stewart, a scientific advisor to Cancer Council Australia, said, according to Brisbane Times. "Such concern is misplaced. If you want to be worried about cancer in your kids, you prevent them from excessive exposure to sunlight, you encourage them to exercise and pray to God they never take up smoking. But you don't worry about what they're wearing."
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard agreed, saying that though the clothing dye may be a health concern, the risks are still low. Rickard said that people need to have worn the recalled products over a long period of time in hot and sweating conditions to become susceptible to any health problem. Most of the recalled products were manufactured in China and Bangladesh.
Earlier this year, Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organization, found residues of toxic chemicals in children's clothes and shoes made by major brands including Disney, Burberry, American Apparel, GAP and Primark.
"This is a nightmare for parents everywhere looking to buy clothes for their children that don't contain hazardous chemicals," Chih An Lee, Detox Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, said in a statement. "These chemical ‘little monsters' can be found in everything from exclusive luxury designs to budget fashion, polluting our waterways from Beijing to Berlin. For the sake of current and future generations brands should stop using these monsters."
Though toxic chemicals have been detected in garments, no illegal products have been used during manufacturing. Moreover, current chemical test methods are very sophisticated and can detect chemicals at extremely low levels so, although detected, this does not mean that the chemicals would cause health problems to children and may only be present as very low level contaminants.
Azo dyes are a large class of very effective synthetic dyes used for coloring a variety of consumer goods such as foods, cosmetics, carpets, clothes, leather and textiles. A small proportion of azo dyes can be hazardous to human health. However, it is only certain azo dyes that are problematic. While these dyes are not banned for textile use in Australia, if the ACCC identifies safety concerns it can recommend suppliers recall unsafe goods. Where a supplier decides not to voluntarily recall unsafe goods, there is an option under the Australian Consumer Law to compel them to recall.
