Date of publication: January 15, 2008
Source: Wall Street Journal
Author: Jane Spencer and Juliet Ye
Over the holidays, millions of American children received Chinese-made toys powered by cadmium batteries.
Cadmium batteries are safe to use. They are also cheap, saving American parents about $1.50 on the average toy, compared with pricier batteries.
But cadmium batteries can be hazardous to make. In southern China, Wang Fengping worked for years in plants that produced cadmium batteries for the likes of Mattel Inc., Toys "R" Us Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Like hundreds of her colleagues, Ms. Wang regularly inhaled the toxic red cadmium dust that filled the air in the plant....