Toxic notebooks are next chinese health scare

Notebooks on sale in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo contain a dye that may damage children's immune systems and cause cancer, the state-run Qianjiang Evening News reported.

"Taking the children's health into consideration, parents should refrain from buying notebooks that look especially white and a little dazzling under natural light," the newspaper reported today, citing the Zhejiang province quality supervision bureau.

Children using the notebooks shouldn't eat while doing their homework and should wash their hands afterward, the newspaper said, citing the bureau. Eighteen of 20 tested batches contained a fluorescent brightener designed to make pages look white that's "not supported and is limited" in the U.S., Japan and the European Union, it said.

Ningbo is a city of about 7.6 million people. Phone calls to the Zhejiang government supervision office went unanswered. The article didn't name the notebooks' manufacturer.