14 batches of student stationery substandard

FOURTEEN batches of stationery that students use were substandard, the city’s market watchdog warned yesterday, adding that some of them had sharp points and contained carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes.

A batch of W&B pens sold at the Tianshan outlet of Century Mart in Changning District was found to contain 1,680 milligrams of decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine, a cancer-causing substance, according to the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.

The amount was over 10 times China’s national standard on students’ stationery which limits 150 mg/kg, the bureau added.

A batch of picture books labeled as made by Shanghai Beijia Paper Co Ltd and sold by Chenguang Stationery failed due to fluorescence whiteness, and fluorescence is a chemical substance that can’t be easily decomposed, and it harms people’s immunity if accumulated in the body, the bureau said.

Math exercise books made by Shanghai Jiansheng Co Ltd and sold at Leishun stationery shop in Huangpu District failed as their substandard whiteness may affect pupils’ eyesight, according to the bureau.

Eight batches of students’ exercise books made by Shanghai Jiansheng were substandard as their staples may hurt users, the bureau said.

The bureau checked a total of 114 batches of students’ stationery products.