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Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2000 6:37 PM
Subject: [dragonslayers] Nike To Investigate Toxic
Shirts Thursday January 6 4:24 PM
ET
Nike To Investigate Toxic Shirts
By TONY CZUCZKA Associate Press Writer BERLIN (AP) - Nike said Thursday it is investigating whether some of its products are treated with a toxic anti-bacterial chemical that can cause serious health problems at high levels in humans. The probe by the Oregon-based manufacturer follows a German television report that the yellow-and-black jerseys Nike made for a popular German soccer club contained tributyltin, a heavy metal compound used in anti-barnacle paint for ships. Three German department store chains pulled the shirts off their shelves Wednesday and Thursday as a precaution, and the club whose jerseys were tested said it had suspended their sale at its official fan store. Also used to kill bacteria and quell the smell of sweat, TBT would seem ideal for sports shirts. But British and Dutch tests have shown the substance to cause mutations in snails, and the World Wildlife Fund is calling for its global ban. At high levels in humans, TBT is believed to cause neurological problems, damage the immune system and harm the liver, said Juergen Kundke, a scientist with a German institute for consumer health. ``We don't know how much is in the shirts, so we can't analyze the risks,'' he said. ``We knew that the substance was still used in coatings for ships, but it shouldn't be in textiles that people wear.'' Nike's world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., pledged a quick probe to determine whether any of its products contain the substance. ``We're doing independent tests on our end to ensure there is no risk to the public,'' spokesman Vada Manager said. ``We're obviously going to take the step of checking on products sold in Germany, but we will check worldwide as well.'' ``As of right now there's no legitimate reason to believe there's any risk,'' he said. In its Tuesday broadcast, German public television's consumer show ``Plusminus'' said a private lab it commissioned found TBT and similar compounds in the Nike jerseys and several other products. The items were chosen at random in German stores, according to the TV report, which provided no figures on the TBT levels. The soccer jerseys caused the biggest storm because the club, 1997 European champion Borussia Dortmund, has a big national following.  www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications |
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