7 @& Z* f d9 C- k这场风波给中国牙膏企业带来了不小的损失。中国口腔清洁护理用品工业协会秘书长相建强说：“今年我估计要减少1000万美元，这是我们行业不应该受到的一个损失。”( T+ g$ T% t% H4 j, @2 U# a
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自“中国牙膏二甘醇事件”引起关注后，中国生产的牙膏或多或少都受到了影响，不少牙膏企业已经开始弃用二甘醇。在市场上，国内二甘醇价格一周之内每吨下跌了160元。二甘醇是牙膏保湿剂的一种，可以防止牙膏干硬。此外类似原料还有甘油和山梨醇。最开始牙膏生产是用甘油做保湿剂，但随着甘油价格上涨，出现了比较便宜的替代品二甘醇。$ E; [4 s/ X; @. W# y: N- D z
: P/ W# Y/ F' N8 u$ }1 q# ~4 b值得注意的是，与二甘醇相同，目前中国国内没有针对牙膏山梨醇含量制定的相关标准。据介绍，目前中国国家标准委联合卫生部，正紧急制定牙膏中二甘醇等各种牙膏成分限量的国家标准。 : y5 Y1 |3 N+ ?; @8 z6 S8 i8 r ' O. k6 x! ?; f" z4 K$ p+ S# S- e 4 m- T O& I3 g Y4 M: |; zA photo provided by the North Carolina Department of Corrections shows one of about 22,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste it bought. ' i1 r4 e3 J% G4 O 3 Y3 R# W0 j3 T A" m0 S % z( {/ p% f7 Q7 V$ j4 D0 D* F 9 W! k, d+ @( P2 o7 k( qWider Sale Is Seen for Toothpaste Tainted in China % |- U2 v0 z) o1 r" E" e0 [" R; o7 v. f6 j! d
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After federal health officials discovered last month that tainted Chinese toothpaste had entered the United States, they warned that it would most likely be found in discount stores. 9 J& ]1 a6 O5 [! |3 o; S( W& O; b$ L0 P1 [2 [
In fact, the toothpaste has been distributed much more widely. Roughly 900,000 tubes containing a poison used in some antifreeze products have turned up in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and even some hospitals serving the general population.+ ^! g+ v( b* Q" ]( y. l& w, `
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The toothpaste was handed out in dozens of state institutions, mostly in Georgia but also in North Carolina, according to state officials. Hospitals in South Carolina and Florida also reported receiving Chinese-made toothpaste, and a major national pharmaceutical distributor said it was recalling tainted Chinese toothpaste.% T7 `% t# I7 u5 H& Z
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The Food and Drug Administration has advised consumers to discard all Chinese-made toothpaste, regardless of the brand. 6 H5 R: X5 }& P& p
% e& \, {! a3 d" c" d4 U8 {* s- XState officials in Georgia and North Carolina said all the tainted tubes were being replaced with brands made outside China. The officials said there had been no reports of illnesses caused by the toothpaste. 4 y' B) V0 ^6 K9 Z& U: f7 }0 g: H& s' t Z4 R! O' Z t6 k# c# m
Officials of the Food and Drug Administration said toothpaste with even small amounts of the bad ingredient, diethylene glycol, a syrupy poison, had a “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury” for children and people with kidney or liver disease. 7 t$ G5 G8 l9 F% ]7 s% i, d7 }
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“This stuff does not belong in toothpaste, period,” a spokesman for the drug agency, Doug Arbesfeld, said. “No Chinese toothpaste has come into the country since the end of May.”. Z* E4 E M! x" D" |; S$ y
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Since the Panamanian government found Chinese toothpaste with diethylene glycol in May, countries from Latin America to West Africa to Japan have seized the toothpaste. ' ]; e& C" c* E8 @0 G7 F
8 H7 g2 V: X9 |0 z5 L+ Q0 OPanama last year inadvertently mixed the poison made in China into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine, killing at least 100 people, prosecutors there said. 2 O0 t# @; N8 g" a. z
" R4 q( v& m- H6 [7 }2 ^Diethylene glycol is often used in Chinese toothpaste in place of its more expensive chemical cousin glycerin. Chinese regulators have said that toothpaste with small amounts of diethylene glycol is not harmful and that international concern is unjustified. # e- G8 a w' V) B3 |; b( w R5 r# y; P' j1 m
After the drug agency expressed concern about tainted toothpaste, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services checked to see whether Chinese toothpaste was being used by the state. The department found it in 83 prisons, 4 mental health centers and 4 juvenile detention centers, said Rick Beal, contracts manager for the department.$ |$ t4 Y6 x U3 z: F r
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Mr. Beal said officials confiscated 5,877 remaining cases, each with 144 tubes, of the Springfresh brand. Tests showed the toothpaste had a diethylene glycol concentration of about 5 percent, he said. 9 [# i" Z6 q) E2 b5 r
$ p$ d" S5 k9 B: ]9 D; B: ?4 }The state bought the toothpaste for about 9 cents a tube in 2002. Mr. Beal said he did not know how many tubes had been used. , k+ e, g+ w4 D: u. B h6 N S; j- y& U+ d; D1 i, M6 f
There are no reports of harm resulting from the toothpaste, bought from a distributor, American Amenities in Seattle. . n8 L9 J3 s/ J/ w, S0 Y1 R! s * m. E% [0 L( A" _3 W" |3 r" [“We do not know who their manufacturer from China was,” Mr. Beal said. % ~3 Y$ ]" j) k7 o+ f+ J' H # \& N) L6 n5 W2 h' OA lawyer for American Amenities, Jesse Lyon, said it had recalled all suspect shipments of the product and had decided to stop importing Chinese toothpaste. Mr. Lyon said he believed that American Amenities had about 30 institutional customers, with Georgia being the largest. * G. N/ T1 ]6 ?1 R: J
- N; h9 }2 m' QA spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Corrections, George Dudley, said his agency estimated that it bought 22,000 tubes of Pacific brand Chinese toothpaste with a small amount of diethylene glycol from Pacific Care Products in San Francisco. 9 S# W4 \+ v: z6 V) Z" U ( M$ \; B" ~( [$ fPacific Care did not respond to a request for comment, but an executive wrote to North Carolina officials that the toothpaste came from Amercare Products, also in Seattle. A spokeswoman for Amercare declined to comment.$ |8 ?2 f4 D: X' }
2 z- G/ _! t2 k8 m+ jChinese toothpaste containing “trace amounts” of diethylene glycol has also been recalled from healthcare institutions by McKesson, a major pharmaceutical distributor and health services company, said a spokesman, James Larkin. 7 O3 B$ ]$ e- f3 O2 b - ]) K. ?4 I4 t' ?& aMr. Larkin said although this particular brand, McKesson EverFRESH, was not on the drug agency’s list of contaminated toothpaste, McKesson asked a laboratory to test it. When small amounts of diethylene glycol turned up, the company recalled the product, he said.5 [4 s! X2 o j( D" a0 M2 r/ [, y: p
, w! \) M6 Q9 j: T9 g“We went back through our records, and every customer that ever bought the product was contacted,” Mr. Larkin said.6 o' E( c6 A, ?9 |8 y
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He added that on short notice he could not determine how many customers had bought the product.: q- i" q) H( E3 Q
% }0 j& w4 g) P1 }* e1 P# e: E. j8 sOne institution that did was Florida Hospital Waterman, a 200-bed institution in Tavares, Fla.' y' f) ?; \; Q! Q0 g
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“We pulled that product,” Bonnie Zimmerman of the hospital said. 9 e4 Q- j& B5 {% `: v# `: i ) j }( N3 x1 p1 I( c4 pMs. Zimmerman said that the toothpaste that replaced it also came from China and it had “trace amounts” of diethylene glycol. It, too, was removed, she said. * ?. q4 O3 w! X* R8 ~* ]: H( [7 H0 o, O4 T d
In South Carolina, four hospitals in the Greenville Hospital System also removed Chinese toothpaste, even though its distributor said it did not have diethylene glycol, said John Mateka, executive director of materials management for the group.
