Kinda gross lol, headbands made from used condoms

[Freebie_expert]

<center>And the Band Plait On</center>
Claim: Some Chinese-made hair bands were fashioned from recycled condoms.

<noindex> Status: True. </noindex>

Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2008]

<table width="610" align="center" bgcolor="#000000" border="0"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#eaf2e5"> Chinese Hair Band - Condom

Grosssssssssssssssssssssssss

Just try to be careful when you are buying hair bands... who knows what it is made from.

These hair bands were made from used condoms and threads.

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Used condoms are being recycled into hair bands in southern China, threatening to spread sexually-transmittable diseases they were originally meant to prevent, state media reported Tuesday.

In the latest example of potentially harmful Chinese-made products, 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.
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Origins: In November 2007, news emerged from China that some hair bands manufactured there were found to have been made from recycled condoms. The prophylactic hair ties were discovered in Dongguan and Guangzhou, two cities in the province of Guangdong. (The colorful hair bands were believed to have been manufactured in Jinhua, a city in the province of <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="12"><tbody><tr><td> <iframe src="http://www.snopes.com/common/include/adsdaqbox.asp" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" name="I2" scrolling="no" width="300" align="center" frameborder="0" height="250"></iframe>
</td></tr></tbody></table> Zhejiang.) The "secret ingredient" came to light when a young woman in Dongguan thought to investigate the hair bands given to her in a local salon after one began to fray, revealing an unexpected color inside.

"The hair bands are swathed in colorful wool-like materials," said <nobr>Ms. Chen,</nobr> the woman who found the condoms. "But a small part came loose when I used the bands to tie my hair up one morning. It looked strange to me because of its different color — not the yellow color we normally see in plastic bands. I peeled deeper and found something that looked like a condom."

Speculation about the issue held that substandard unused condoms (i.e., new prophylactics that had failed to meet quality standards at the condom manufacturing plant where they were produced) were resold to hair band manufacturers as raw materials. It is not clear that, as claimed, some or all of the hair ties' hidden surprises were condoms that had reached their original intended market and been used before being recycled. If the latter case were true, they could serve to spread sexually-transmittable diseases because they might still harbor certain bacteria and viruses.

This had not been the first time rejected condoms had been used to make hairbands. In 2002 the Shanghai Star reported on a case that had surfaced in Qingdao, Shandong Province, after a woman living there discovered that a rubber band she had purchased to tie up her hair had been made from a prophylactic. The bands had been manufactured in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province and were being wholesaled by a couple operating out of Qinyang, Henan Province.

It was confirmed that the rubber bands had been fashioned from bits of used and abandoned or low-quality condoms rejected by the factory where they were made. Said items should have, according to state regulations, been broken down and sent to a plastics factory in Beijing.

Barbara "brayed advice" Mikkelson

Last updated: 27 August 2008 <!-- 7 July 2008 - original 27 August 2008 - added 2002 case -->

<center>The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/hairband.asp</center>

[koala]

I remember having this discussion before:
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/showthr...hlight=condoms

Gross.

[Lita]

Yeah! eww gross! anyways...

[ScotchandBoots]

I'm all for recycling but there are limits....

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LisaLisaBoBisa]

ugghhhh -- why do we bother? Why do we become outraged by everything else but Chinese made crap? from toys to headbands? sheesh.. why isn't their an organization out there that we can all join to defend ourselves from this?? if anyone knows of one,, let me know.. I would be happy to join.

[harkatsmom]

I remember having this discussion before:
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/showthr...hlight=condoms

Gross.

Me too..This is just too nasty

[swouper2]

The more I learn, the more I am checking where things are made, and NOT buying made in China when alternatives are available. It does take all the fun out of Dollar stores, though...

[Sally888]

SO where these in Canada?

I wear them a few times a week, but my hair is too short for a ponytail now

[kaela]

these are the things we know about. i am sure there is much more.

[thetick]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

[harkatsmom]

Edit my post as I am confused




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[jenna321]

What's next? That is disgusting that god the hairbands don't stay on my head! My hair is way to thick but what about pony tails holders?

[April07]

Uhhhh... now that is just too weird. WHO in their right mind actually recycles those things ?

[WAKEFORSOUL]

Nasty