Elizabeth February 29th, 2008

Used condoms in southern China are being recycled into hair bands and they are selling well in local markets and beauty salons.

But they could spread sexually-transmittable diseases the condoms were originally meant to prevent, state media reported today.

Rubber hair bands have been found in local markets and beauty salons in Dongguan and Guangzhou cities in southern Guangdong province, China Daily newspaper said.

“These cheap and colourful rubber bands and hair ties sell well … threatening the health of local people,” it said.

Despite being recycled, the hair bands could still contain bacteria and viruses, it said.

“People could be infected with AIDS, warts or other diseases if they hold the rubber bands or strings in their mouths while waving their hair into plaits or buns,” the paper quoted a local dermatologist as saying.

A bag of ten of the recycled bands sells much cheaper than others on the market, accounting for their popularity, the paper said.

China’s manufacturing industry has been repeatedly tarnished this year by a string of scandals involving shoddy or dangerous goods made for both domestic and foreign markets.

From The Age, via Meg at Dipping Into the Blogpond

I’m speechless again, which makes for terrible blogging.

So it’s over to you guys: what would you do with the used condoms of 1,321,851,888 people? Let’s see if we can drag standards just a little lower!

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