by Daniel Xiao Wang

Created on: January 21, 2008   Last Updated: March 12, 2010

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle cramps, convulsions, shock, kidney failure- all in a days work. These are the effects of cadmium exposure according to the US Department of Labor, and Chinese workers making common batteries routinely suffer from it. Just one example of unsafe working conditions is Chinese factories.

A hundred years ago American workers had very few protections and rights. Factory conditions were atrocious and death and disease were common.

Since that time working conditions in America have improved. Simple things that we take for granted today- things like proper ventilation, safety controls on heavy equipment and proper protective gear have made American factories less dangerous to American workers. In addition, the federal government has instituted safety standards and workman's compensation laws to protect workers.

The legacy that America has abandoned has not, however, disappeared. America has transferred this legacy to China. According to Pulitzer Prize award winning reporter Loretta Tofani, Chinese law declares that workers have a legal right to be protected from disease and amputation. This law is rarely enforced, however, as economic expansion is more important that worker's safety.

Many young Chinese workers, typically between the ages of twenty and forty, are dying slow painful deaths. They suffer from disease and amputation resulting from toxins used to create goods in Chinese factories, goods that are then sold to the rest of the world, and especially America.

Conditions in Chinese factories would shock the average American. Poor ventilation; little to no protection from toxic materials; ineffective, if any, protective equipment; amputations are common due to old equipment lacking safety features.

Chinese workers are paying the price for cheap Chinese goods.

Companies around the world, big and small, import these goods to sell. They may never have contact with the actual manufacturer and therefore are unaware of the worker's working conditions.

The National Labor Committee reports the following about US companies importing from China:

* Huffy bikes are made in China by workers that are paid 25 cents an hour, these workers work from 7AM until 11PM 7 days a week.

* Timberland shoes are made in China by 16 and 17 year old girls who work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for 22 cents an hour.

* Keds are made in China by girls as young as 16 applying toxic glue with their bare hands,

* RCA TVs are made by young women, as young as

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