A report issued by Greenpeace on Monday revealed that football wear and shoes from three int'l sports brands, all of whom are major producers of apparel for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, "were found to contain toxic chemicals," according to Cao Yin of the CHINA DAILY. Greenpeace said that it bought sporting goods from Nike, adidas and Puma in 16 countries and regions across the world "and conducted tests on them from March to May." It found that 81% of the three brands' football shoes and 35% of their football performance shirts "had chemical residues, including plasticizer and perfluorinated compounds." The report said that among the tested products, the perfluorooctanoic acid index of an adidas football boot named Predator "had more than 15 times the standard amount of the acid." Greenpeace activist Li Yifang said that "the chemical is currently banned in some countries and regions." Li urged the three sports brands to disclose toxicity information about their products as soon as possible and suggested that "they establish a clear timeline to eliminate toxic chemicals from production lines and take specific measures to provide environmentally safe goods for consumers" (CHINA DAILY, 5/20).
