Taiwan radioactive watches alert

[P van Rooyen <rooyen@aib-vincotte.nl>]

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http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?click_id=117&art_id=qw9738808208B21
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'Made in Taiwan' radioactive watches recalled

November 10 2000 at 08:27PM

Paris - French health authorities have issued an alert on a batch of
Taiwanese-made watches, saying that their metal straps had been
contaminated by radioactivity. 
The giant supermarket chain, Carrefour, has ordered an immediate recall of
all 4 500 watches - a third of which had already been sold - said the
Ionising Radiation Protection Board (OPRI). 
"The watches are made in Taiwan," said OPRI's president, Jean-Francois
Lacronique. 
"We suspect that a small amount of cobalt 60, probably mishandled
radioactive material from a medical or industrial source, was accidentally
included in the metal alloy used for the bracelet strap." 
Half of the watches sampled had shown "weak" levels of radioactivity, but
there was "no immediate danger" for the wearer, the board said. 
"However, it will be necessary to pursue the investigation, using a wider
sample, to assess any risk," it added. 
"In any case, adding an artificially radioactive element to a consumer
product is a violation of the law, especially public health regulations." 
The brand, Trophy, is a traditional-style analogue watch. It retails for
249 francs (about R250), said an OPRI spokesperson, Marianne Durand. 
The incident coincides with rising concern among experts about the safe
disposal of radioactive material in developing countries, especially cobalt
and other elements used, albeit in small quantities, to power hospital
scanners or industrial probes. 
In Bangkok on Friday, a nine-country forum on nuclear co-operation in Asia
was marked by a demonstration that included several people who had been
disfigured by radiation accidents. 
In one of the most serious incidents, which occurred in Bangkok in
February, scrap-metal workers picked up unmarked radioactive material
discarded by an electrical company and unwittingly exposed a city suburb to
20 days of high radiation doses. Three people were killed and four were
maimed. - Sapa-AFP
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Paul van Rooijen
AIB-Vinçotte Nederland BV
Postbus 6869, 4802 HW Breda
The Netherlands

tel	++31 (0) 76 579 11 54
fax	++31 (0) 76 587 47 60 
e-mail	rooyen@aib-vincotte.nl



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