-JQ- Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I've been noticing a particular odor from products made in china. It is a pungent "rubbery" smell...sort of a vinyl chloride smell but not as sweet. At work we purchased a couple of items that had rubber parts - grips - mats etc that smelled so bad I had to remove them from my workspace. I've since noticed this in other items from china. Today I buy a new hoody sweat shirt. Tonight I go out for a walk and grab the new sweatshirt as it is in the 30's and as I walk I notice "the smell". When I get back to the house I take it off and big surprise "made in china" I should have checked before I bought it but now it is too late. I take it off and now my t-shirt smells like it. Fresh t-shirt on and I smell it again on MY SKIN. Has anyone else noticed this odor? They have been "putting" crap in other products that are bad for us and I wonder if is this on purpose? Sun Tzu had a quote about winning without fighting?? I also know this could be tested but I don't have the extra ~$500 bucks for gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer analysis. Is there anyone out there with GS/MS access who might be interested in running some tests? I'll send you the #$%%@# sweat shirt and other items if you want. I'm fed up! And no I'm not just hypersensitive - others in the office were complaining too. Now I have to go decon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Someone must have spilled their lunch on it before they shipped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulm540 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Melamine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledavatar Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 That happened to a coworker once. He went everywhere and everything he picked up seemed to smell. And others smelled it too. Turned out it was because he hadn't showered for a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentlemanJim Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I think China has just found a way to EXPORT all of their toxic waste You know that stuff shows up in the strangest places...dog food...baby food ect Even Chineese cardboard stinks like that Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZip Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Dealing with processed wood products out of China, and other products as well, ( Industrial stuff) I can say that I know what you are talking about. I even smell it though when we get shipments of certain products from Brazil. I wonder if it's some pesticide that they spray inside the containers on the ships. I have found it strongest when we get a full container right off the ship, directly. Some of these containers are not opened until they arrive at your plant. JZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I bought some bathroom cabinets from Target that smell like a forrest fire! I swear they got a deal on burnt-up trees and made home furnishings with them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisStock Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Even Chinese cardboard stinks like that Jim Yep... I used to bring home PC shipping boxes all the time for friends/family/self...whatever. They are pretty heavy duty, and we have tons of them. Since we became strictly a Dell shop, they are made in (guess where?), it is nearly impossible to put a box in my car for the ride home. The stench will make you gag. I discovered this 2 years ago, and every few months I test out my observation, and yes, it is confirmed every time. My car will reek for days after trying this. Toxic shizzle, useful for nothing but making recyclers happy. Glad to see someone step up with their observation, now I know I'm not going nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 My brother's company imports Wicker and Rattan furniture from China, Indonesia and other parts of the world. Everything that comes over is packed in "containers" and shipped here by boat. Before the container is sealed and placed on the ship, they must fumigate the container and it's contents and certify that fact. Basically, they set off a "fumigation bomb" and then seal the container. This is done to keep various insects and creatures (along with any diseases that they may be carrying) from being introduced to the USA. Generally, everything that comes out of the container has a fumigation smell from the poison. The smell can vary, depending on what poison they used to fumigate the contents, but it is never good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Norman Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Not a new smell. I noticed it 20 years ago on a vinyl rainsuit I bought in Tortola for a quick sailing trip. Was so bad I couldn't use it! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 (edited) [edit] -------------------------- Seriously, I think this may be "pesticide" related. I have some friends that work for NIOSH so I'm going to contact them to see what they can come up with. FYI - National Insititute for Occupational Safety and Health is the research branch for OSHA and is part of the CDC...I should of thought of that as they have a large presence (as odes EPA) here in Cincinnati. One of my friends is researching avian flu and routinely inspects cargo container ships. If I get in touch I'll follow up with some info in "english" - they tend to speak "geek". Maybe we can spend some tax money on this instead of ammo money. Pesticides are some of the worst agents out there and we in the US have even had our share of their misuse - dioxin, malathion/parathion, etc. At least I know it isn't just me. Edited February 6, 2009 by Flexmoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I just had a taste (not quite literally) of this stuff, I think. I came here to look up the thread...it had been closed because of veering off into politics, insults and the like. I gutted it so that we could (hopefully) explore the issue. Anyway... What I had was a cardboard box (packaging) from a Digiorno Pizza (Kraft Foods). The pizza, itself, is sealed tight in a plastic vacuum pack...and seems fine. The smell...is the box. I spent 20+ minute talking with the customer service rep on the 800 number on the box. I wouldn't let her off with sending me coupons, or writing it off as the food going bad from improper storage. I pressed on the issue of the boxes coming from overseas. She said if they did, their boxes would be labels as such. They weren't. But, they could have taken a ride in those shipping containers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizer Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 IMHO, don't think it's specifically from China that smell such. Again like the gentleman above has said before, it's the 'fumigation' smell that is required by customs. Toxic? Yeah, guess so. Have u guys tried using coal to get rid of the odor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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